They Don't Love You Like I Love You
by The Nauti Dolphin
Summary: Hermione, forced into detention with Draco, discovers something that plagues her thoughts long afterward. Can the arrival of new students at Hogwarts distract her or will it just worsen her situation? HGDM, but not so typical. Longer teaser inside...
1. A Controversial Potions Class

A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fic… I hope you guys like it!

I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form and you must be clinically insane if you believe I do. I will not say this again.

This may seem like every other Hermione/Draco fic, but if you stay tuned I can promise you that it is not… I beg you to stay with the story!! I promise it will get good!!

**Teaser:** To Hermione, love was the last thing she needed more of in her life. She had loving parents, caring friends, and plenty of other people who were concerned about her. But the gradual loss of her best friends and the verbal attacks of her more vicious peers begin to sting more than before. Slowly, Hermione finds herself becoming an outcast with only the façade of shallow friends to keep her from being completely socially isolated. Love suddenly knocks on the door when she least expects it. After witnessing a tantalizing and then rather disturbing scene and then forced to hush up about it all, Hermione doesn't know whom to turn to. She tangles herself in relationships and deems herself unable to sort it all out. Now with the arrival of a new student to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, things complicate themselves even more. She finds strength and depth in people she hadn't even dreamt of before and when it all comes down to it, she will have to make an ultimate decision. Under circumstances unknown to Hermione, her time to decide is growing shorter and shorter, forcing her to eventually appreciate and understand the values of life, love, and happiness for what they really mean.

* * *

**They Don't Love You Like I Love You ******

* * *

**Chapter 1: A Controversial Potions Class**

* * *

_Everywhere I go, I gotta see you._

_I don't wanna be where you're gonna be 'cause_

_You know I hate you, I do._

_I Hate You, WIZO_

* * *

_I know it's ridiculous to be worrying about exams this early, but I just can't help it. Anyways, if I don't feel like studying I can always brush up on my _Hogwarts, A History _facts - they seem to often come in handy…_ Hermione rushed through the halls of the third floor, bumping into people with only a rushed 'Sorry!' to offer as papers fell like confetti through the air behind her.

She really did want to get to the library. She just needed some alone time. Hermione was so sick of Harry and Ron and their relentless Quidditch talk. She supposed she should be used to that, but for some reason it still bothered her.

So much had changed in the past few years. Sure, they had all matured, but their friendship was different. It was as if none of them wanted to be together, so they just stayed together for the sake of not breaking up. They still talked, but each of them has almost developed their own little worlds. Each of them had their secrets, which the other two knew nothing about. Hermione was truly sad that that things happened this way, but she knew she herself was a factor in making them happen.

Hermione had become better friends with Ginny. She found that girls she used to dislike rather strongly, like Lavender, Pavarti, and Padma, really could be awesomely good friends. She couldn't believe she'd made it through half of her teen years with two guys as best friends. She really was thankful for her new female comrades, but couldn't help but reminisce about her past escapades and the two people she used to share everything with.

Ron, eager to fulfill Fred and George's legacy, had begun his own trouble-making adventures. Harry, in Ron's opinion was 'too-tied-up-in-his-You-Know-Who-fighting-to-join-me', and so, Ron sought out others. He found Dean and Seamus to be great pals and very willing to stir things up. Between the three of them, they had managed to play a trick on everyone in the school (besides Dumbledore, of course) and only get slammed with a week of detention twice. No one in Hogwarts was safe from their clever pranks.

Harry became the troubled soul of the trio. In the summer between fifth and sixth year, Harry had managed to silence Voldemort, and so the Dark Lord was no longer a present threat. All his evil combating had only helped in creating a greater distance between him and his two best friends. Not knowing what else to do, he reached out for the object of his years of pining- and she grabbed his hand and pulled him in. He became friends with Cho and her pals, who were surprisingly accepting of Harry. Cho soon found herself falling for Harry, returning his long unrequited love. Their romance left them both failing the second half of the year. Harry was able to get his grades back up with a lot of help from Hermione, but Cho wasn't able to do the same. After much pleading, she was allowed to shamefully repeat the seventh year, placing her in the same grade as Harry and promising that this year, they wouldn't get too out of hand.

But all that was in the past. Hermione, just as the other two, didn't have the time to sit down and repair the holes in their relationship. It was intensely disheartening, but not something she could worry about now. She had been studying furiously for her Potions test for the past week, but she needed to check up on a few points she was unsure about, like exactly how much rat spleen was needed for a shrinking potion.

Approaching the vast library chock-full of mesmerizing (or dull, depending on whether you were Hermione or every other Hogwarts student) books, guides, and encyclopedias to everything in the wizarding world, all her thoughts were interrupted as she felt her body slam into someone else's. "Omigosh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay…?" Hermione's voice trailed off as she looked into the eyes of the victim of her clumsiness. The cold, steely gray of Draco Malfoy's eyes froze her heart over.

"Watch it, Mudblood. Or is your blood so clouded that it's affecting your vision?" As always, she could count on him for a snide remark and that trademark smirk.

"Put a sock in it, Malfoy," Hermione snapped back, fuming mad on the inside but not particularly in the mood to get into a full-fledged verbal battle. She simply walked away before either of them really let the other one have it. Finally entering the library, she laid out her schoolbag and supplies on an empty table, heading towards that stacks for a thick-spined copy of _An Advanced Guide to Potions of the World_.

Hours later, she returned to her private common room. _I almost forgot that being Head Girl can actually pay off_, she thought as she sunk into the large scarlet armchair in front of the magically crackling fireplace. Luckily, Justin Finch-Fletchley, who had been named Head Boy for this year, was out for another late night himself, though Hermione hardly believed he was out studying. She let all the information she had just absorbed sink in as she sipped on some green tea, which she much preferred over coffee. When she was done with her tea, she stood up, stretched and shed her robes in place of more comfortable bedtime attire.

As she put out the fire and finally climbed, extremely weary, into bed, one lingering thought haunted her and did not permit her to sleep. She restlessly pondered why there was always that one moment, before those eyes iced over. That tiny moment where she actually thought of him as a person. But then, she would instantly remember all the pain and suffering he had put her through for those six long years and any kind feeling immediately evaporated into thin air. But why was there that moment in the first place? She couldn't believe that such a small instant could plague her dreams as it did that night.

Hermione woke up the next morning, fatigued due to her restless night. She decided to forget about this whole Draco business- she hated him and he hated her, simple as that. She had a Potions test to be early for.

She put on a fresh set of robes, grabbed her school bag, shoved her wand in her pocket, and headed for the door. This time, as she made her way to the dungeons, she promised herself that she would keep her eyes open and facing forward. The last thing she wanted to do was bump into Malfoy again.

Hermione finally reached the bleak Slytherin dungeon, pulling open the heavy wooden door to reveal her fellow classmates. It was her most dreaded class, because not only was first class of the day on Monday, but after seven years, they still shared it with Slytherins. She found most of the class pouring over their potions books, hoping to absorb enough information to pass the test. That is, everyone except Malfoy. He sat atop his desk, cruelly pestering Neville as he tried to do some last minute studying. _He thinks he's too good for everyone. And he's so selfish, the way he makes jokes at other people's expenses. It wouldn't hurt him to be nice every once in a while._ Hermione took his seat, waiting for class to start.

Snape suddenly appeared from a door behind his desk that Hermione had never before noticed. "As you full well know, today you will have an examination on how far you've come in your six-plus years here at Hogwarts: at least Potions-wise. Pair up with someone and make it quick, because you have exactly one hour to produce a Sleeping Draught, a Pepperup Potion, and a Confusing Concoction. Place all books in your bags, and commence."

Hermione knew Harry and Ron would pair up together, so she didn't even bother to look in their direction. She glanced over at Lavender and Pavarti, who were already gathering ingredients for their concertedly concocted potions. Hermione thought to pair with Neville, but he was already working with Seamus. She took this as an opportunity to pair with Dean, except for the fact that he was back in his dormitory, bedridden with a bad case of the flu. _Just my luck,_ she thought to herself. _Now I'm going to end up with a Slytherin as my partner!_ She saw Crabbe and Goyle pair up, Millicent Bulstrode go with the abominable Pansy Parkinson, and even Blaise Zabini pair off with someone who Hermione didn't recognize. She approached Snape's desk to present him with her dilemma. "Professor, I haven't anyone to work with-"

"Can't you see I am talking with someone else? Five points from Gryffindor for interrupting a teacher and unnecessary whining. No matter though, you'll just have to pair up with this student right here, or there is always the option of taking a zero," Snape concluded with a devious grin spread across his pale face.

Hermione looked to see whom it was she was to work with, and was immediately tempted to take that zero Snape had offered. Her partner looked equally disgusted. "You can't make me work with him!" Hermione wailed, pointing her finger at none other that Malfoy.

"Watch me," Snape hissed as he sad down at his desk, his greasy black hair spilling down over his sickly face.

Hermione couldn't will herself to take a zero- she physically could not do it. She instead had to force herself to work with the boy who had been nothing but nasty to her. "Let's just get this over with, okay, Malfoy? Can we have a truce for just this hour?"

"Over my roasting carcass. I don't make pacts with filthy Mudbloods like yourself, Granger. The day I do will be the very same day owls fly out of my-" But Draco didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, because he had just been punched in the nose by an enraged Hermione. "What the fuck was that for, Granger?"

"Didn't you learn anything from that slap in third year?!" Hermione yelled back at the pathetic excuse for a human being, who was presently on the ground, clutching his broken nose.

* * *

A/N: Actiony-enough for you? It can only get better from here…. PLEASE stay tuned!!! This is a lot coming from me, since I despise begging… You know you want to review… I am totally willing to hear your opinions!!! I wanna hear what you guys have to say! 

Charlotte ;)


	2. Incarceration with a Git

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 2: Incarceration with a Git**

* * *

_So why are you so destructive?_

_Do you realize what you've done? _

_You can't bring it back to life now._

_What are you running from?_

_Detective, No Doubt_

* * *

"That is enough!" roared Snape, shutting up the two bickering teenagers. By this point, everyone was staring at Draco and Hermione, baffled by their sudden outburst. "I will see the two of you in my office, immediately. The rest of you," he addressed to the class, "will continue taking the test and don't worry: you can't cheat. I've made sure of it." He stalked towards the door with Draco, then Hermione, in tow. 

"What d'you think's gotten into them?" Harry whispered to Ron as the two pretended to be measuring out the proper amount of ginger root for one of their potions.

"Beats the hell outta me- did you see that punch she sunk him? Talk about a left hook… You gotta admit though, he had that one a long time coming," Ron excitedly observed.

"Yeah," Harry responded absent-mindedly as he watched Hermione slip through the door, her face red and her hair out of control, giving her a rather threatening look.

Snapped moodily clicked the door quickly behind Hermione. "Sit down," he directed the two, and they did as they were told. Neither of them had ever seen Snape angrier before, and it scared the both of them. "Granger, you took this completely out of hand. Violence is unacceptable. A silly bookworm such as yourself should know that. In addition to that, you should know that not only does being Head Girl not put you above the rules of this school, but you are setting an example for others. Physical, uncontrolled hostility towards other students is not something that should even allow you to keep the title. Seventy-five points from Gryffindor."

Hermione glanced sideways at Draco, wanting more than anything to slap that smug look off of his face- but that was what had gotten her here in the first place. Somehow, she was able to restrain herself, returning Malfoy's look right back at him with the utterance of Snape's next words. "Mister Malfoy, you are not exempt from admonishment. I thought you might know better than to curse, especially in my classroom. Though it pains me to say the words, I will be forced to take twenty-five points from Slytherin." Hermione had to fight not to protest the unfair balance of point deductions, but she held her tongue, because she was in enough trouble as it was. "The two of you, on top of it all, will both receive one full week of detention and will receive a zero as a grade for this test. I am very disappointed in the two of you, though I never had very high standards for one of you," Snape said, staring directly at Hermione. "Mister Malfoy, Granger will escort you to Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing." The two feuding adolescents made for the door, eager to distance themselves from Snape.

Hermione avoided the gazes of her friends, making a beeline for the heavy wooden door, which locked them for what seemed to be hours on end in Snape's dreaded class. The one day she was allowed to get out of Potions, the only thing she wanted to do was to have a normal class, but she had blown that when she let her hatred for Malfoy get out of hand. Punching the git had felt good at the time, but she knew she would pay dearly for what she had done. She walked beside Malfoy in silence, leaving the Slytherin dungeon area of the castle and coming upon the Great Hall. Her stomach growled as she realized she had skipped breakfast.

As they got closer and closer to the Hospital Wing, the silence became unbearable. Hermione couldn't take it anymore. "Look, Malfoy, I can't believe I'm saying this, but-"

"Don't even waste your breath apologizing. I don't want to hear it," he angrily snapped back at her.

Hermione stared back at him, thoroughly shocked, with nothing to say. When she finally found her voice, she feebly replied with, "Are you incapable of human emotion or something? I didn't know it was possible for someone to be that cruel. Of course, you probably took that as a compliment. There's no way you would be that way unless you enjoyed doing it."

Draco stopped walking. "You don't know the first thing about me. It's not as if I would tell you, but you shouldn't go on about stuff you don't know about. You may pass all your tests with flying colors, but you sure aren't smart, are you, Granger?"

Hermione was completely taken aback. "Merlin! What is the matter with you? I was only trying to be kind, for some unknown reason, and you have to be a complete jerk about it! You are just looking for fights! I bet you spend your spare time plotting ways to piss people off and start fights! I can't believe you! Walk you own sorry ass to Madam Pomfrey's!" Hermione fled down the hall, silent tears streaming down her face. She didn't stop running until she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Someone's looking rather upset," the painting spoke to her in a sweetly fake voice. Hermione just ignored her, muttering "Merlin's beard" and stepping through the hole behind the portrait. She chose an empty chintz armchair to stay and wait for Harry and Ron. She would have gone back to her own common room, but it felt so empty on account of Justin never being around. Not that she particularly enjoyed his company on the rare occasion that he was there. She hoped to maybe talk to Ginny or Lavender, but when she got upset like this, she could only be consoled by her best and dearest friends. The 'Golden Trio' as they were once called, went through practically everything together, and still came together to talk about things only the three of them could all help each other understand. However much they kept from each other, they could always go back and talk like they had never grown apart.

What was really on her mind, though, was why she had acted up like that. _Why did I get so upset over something like that? He and I piss each other off and fight all the time. Maybe it's just that time of the month or something. I just hope he didn't catch me crying. I'd never hear the end of that one, and the last thing I would want him to have is the assurance of being able to make me cry. It's just that every time I think that maybe he'll randomly turn around and be nice, he just comes out with something truly nasty. I just don't understand him!_ As Hermione brooded over these thoughts, she slowly drifted off to catch up on some of the sleep she has missed last night.

"'Mione! 'Mione, it's time to get to Charms! We're learning Flame-Freezing Charms or something botched like that," Ron's soothing yet urgent voice brought her back to reality.

Hermione's eyelids flew open. "Oh, Merlin! Where are my books? Does my hair look okay? What time is it? Who cares?" A storm of questions rained on Ron, leaving him unable to answer any of them.

"Just come with us, 'Mione. But get a move on it or we'll be late!" Harry instructed, handing Hermione her bag and leading her out of the portrait hole. "So," he began after they had walked for a bit, "what was all that about?" At her confused look, he elaborated. "You know, back there with Malfoy and all. Anything up with you guys that you haven't told Ron and I?" Harry gently questioned as they hurriedly made their way through the halls, around the large groups of second and third years.

"Nothing. He was just being an ass, as usual," Hermione answered sharply. Harry and Ron knew enough not to question further if they didn't want to suffer her wrath. They both just rolled their eyes and followed their flustered friend down the hall.

Hermione has never felt more tired in all her life. She looked forward to a relaxing evening in the warmth of the Gryffindor common room, surrounded by her friends, before drifting back to her own private one to go to bed. Then, she remembered her detention. With Malfoy, making it even worse. She got up out of her chair before she fell asleep and headed for McGonagall's office, where she was told to report, dreading whatever it was that was in store for her and Malfoy tonight. She finally reached the door to her Head of House's office and yanked on the ancient handle.

Professor McGonagall looked up and spoke to Hermione. "I am really rather disappointed in you. A Head Girl should under no circumstances be getting detentions and punching other students. I believe I can understand that this may have been a slip or mistake, but one more stunt like this, Miss Granger, and I will be forced to revoke you from your position as Head Girl." As if Hermione didn't feel bad enough. "You will be serving your detentions, as you know, with Mr. Malfoy. I want to hear of no more arguments between the two of you. You're seventeen, Hermione, and a very responsible young adult. I expect you to behave yourself. Tonight, you will take on the task of scouring the prefect's bathroom. That is all."

McGonagall went back to working on some parchments on her desk as Hermione found her way to the door, her heart feeling as though it had sunk to the pit of her stomach. _If Malfoy figures out that my position is in danger of being removed, he will taunt me ad infinitum because I can't fight back._ She walked up two flights of stairs, down a long hallway, down another flight of stairs, and opened the third door on her right: the prefect's bathroom. In it, she found some various cleaning supplies and among them, Malfoy. "Let's get to work," Hermione said, alerting him of her presence. He didn't look up, so she approached him. "The sooner we clean, the sooner we can leave." As he looked up, she tried hard not to laugh at the sight of a large bandage across his nose.

"Yeah, whatever. I mean, the less time I have to spend with you, the better. What are you laughing at?" he snapped at her in confused anger.

"Oh, not a thing. But wait, are we, like, actually agreeing on something?"

"Don't push it, Granger. Let's just get to work. You can clean all the toilets."

"I don't think so! We are dividing up the work evenly. I'm not going to do it all!"

Sixteen toilets, ten sinks, one floor, and one and a half hours later, Hermione and Draco collapsed beside the bathtub. If Hermione was ever dead-tired before, she was ten times that at this point. She felt as though she couldn't move another inch. Her eyes kept shutting on her, and she had to jerk her head back up into an upright position and struggle to keep her eyes open.

Draco, sitting to the right of Hermione, felt exactly the same way. Certain circumstances had left him with far too many sleepless nights. He was about to get up when he felt something warm and soft on his shoulder, like a pillow calling for him to surrender to dreams and take a long awaited nap. He lay his head on it and shut his eyes. He was suddenly woken up by a loud _click_, which startled him, causing him to jump to his feet. He looked down, seeing Hermione's head hit the tile floor with a _thud_ that left her with a splitting headache. She winced in pain.

"Your head was on my shoulder," Malfoy offered, standing above her.

"So you just let it drop to the floor!? You could have woken me up or something instead of giving me this bloody headache! You're enough of one already!" She groggily retorted.

"I don't need to deal with this." Malfoy stood up and made tracks for the door. He took his wand out and muttered "Alohomora" at the lock. He pulled at the handle of the door, but it was stuck. He pulled harder to no avail. He rammed his shoulder at it in vain. "Um, Granger, we have a problem. Does your overly swelled brain have any solutions to our problem?" he directed towards Hermione, who was sitting in the corner, heavy with sleep.

"Not when you call it that," she curtly replied, coming to life from her previously dead-like state. She stood up and approached Draco. "Did you try 'Alohomora' yet?"

"Been there, done that."

"Hmm… Check the cleaning supplies to see if there isn't a key in there somewhere."

"Oh, this is rich. Me, taking orders from a Mudblood." But he was too tired to fight and too eager to get out of the bathroom to do any thing but hunt through the supplies anyway. "Zilch," he reported upon completion of his search.

"I tried the most advanced Unlocking Charm, but got no results. I don't know what to do!"

"For once. Maybe we could try banging on the door. Maybe someone walking by would hear us?"

"I highly doubt it. Filch is the only one out at this time of night, and there's a very low chance he isn't even in this part of the school. If you didn't notice, the castle is huge and there is only one caretaker. Anyway, he would like to see students suffer in the bathroom for the night. He's just that mentally unbalanced."

"You have a point. So we're stuck in here? Together? Overnight? If that's the case, I'm going to take a bath. I actually broke a sweat, not something normal for me, and I haven't gotten a chance to use this bathtub yet - I have my own in my dormitory." Malfoy turned on various faucets on and off, until he got the desired temperature of water and purple, aromatheraputic bubbles. "What? They're just bubbles," he retorted at Hermione's snort of laughter. He then picked up a towel and walked into one of the stalls to undress with a little privacy.

Hermione sat on the ground, longing to take a bath herself, but under no circumstances willing to get in there with him. She got up to pointlessly pick at the lock, hoping beyond hope that it would somehow come apart. When Malfoy finally stepped out of the stall, Hermione turned around and was stunned. She was finally able to see why so much of Hogwarts' female population salivated over Draco Malfoy. _Oh. My. God. He has a gorgeous body. I mean, he's still the same slimy maggot and all, but WOW._

"What are you looking at, Granger?"

"Huh? Wha? No, nothing. Nothing at all."

"Exactly what I thought. Now, turn around. I'm getting in."

"As if I'd want to see whatever that towel is covering," Hermione replied as she turned around to avert her eyes from a sight she was sure would scar her for life. At the sound of a _splash_, Hermione turned around to find Malfoy looking very relaxed. The thought of him in the absence of clothes underneath the water turned her shades a bright shade of pink. She glanced resentfully at Malfoy, not understanding why she should have to sit on the cold tile floor while the Slytherin Prince bathed in the luxury of the prefect's bathtub.

He lazily opened one eye to catch her staring at him. "I know it must be your silly Mudblood dream to come in here with my irresistible self, but it'll just have to stay that way. Sorry to let you down, but I don't exactly share that dream."

"Thank you so much for you insight to my wishes and dreams," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm and then disgust, "but I'm not in the mood to fight with you right now. I am going to bed."

"To what bed?" Malfoy retorted as he pulled the plug from the drain and made to get out of the tub.

"Oh, you know what I mean. Don't try anything funny on me while I'm sleeping. Goodnight!" Hermione snapped agitatedly. Too tired to get up, she muttered "Accio towels" and created a makeshift pillow out of a lump of the soft, white towels, stretching out on the hard, cold floor. She rolled on to her side, suddenly unable to fall asleep. She heard Malfoy's wet foot steps lead to the stall door, the opening and then shutting of the door. A few minutes later, the opening and shutting again, drier, bare footsteps towards the other side of the bathroom, footsteps getting slower and slower, stopping, and a loud thud as a body hit the floor.

Hermione bolted upright. "Malfoy?" she questioned timidly into the dark space beyond her. No response. "Malfoy?" she called out again, louder than before. Again, no response. She got out of bed, murmured "Lumos" and paced quickly in the direction in which she believed he lay. As she approached him, she saw a thin, then thicker trail of what was unmistakably blood, ending at the unconscious lump on the ground that was Malfoy.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers for… well, reviewing. I'm glad to know at least a handful of people are reading my story. I hope you aren't too upset at me for all this cliffhangerness… But you know you really love it. I don't know how I let this chapter get so long, the writing was just infectious! 

Tune in next time to find out answers to many questions, such as: Why did Malfoy faint? Will the pair ever get out of the prefect's bathroom? What is UP between Hermione and Draco? Will this be another one of those stories in which both the main characters suddenly fall in love and become all sappy? What is a tchotchke? All that and more coming up soon!! So stay tuned!!

Charlotte ;)


	3. The Sidetracked Search

Hello again! 

I just had to quickly take the time to recognize all my awesome reviewers:

**  
Son Christine**, **Silver Hanyou**: You guys are the best. Thanks so much for reviewing- even when you totally didn't have to. I was just thinking about the great FL times…SOO FUN!! Seriously, I will love you if you can tell me what you honestly think of my story, instead of just praising me because I'm your friend…Love ya, anyway!

**Lady Paine**: I'm glad that you love 'kick-ass 'Mione' because I do too! But you know, because this is a romance that one day soon she will have to suck it up and give in… But I'll try, if I can, to have her hold out till the very end! Thanks for reviewing though!

**mintytoothpick**, **lucy**: I am glad that you picked my story out of all of the ones out there and I hope you stay tuned throughout my story, even if you are hating the way its going, because I will promise you that it will get better!! Thanks for your reviews!

**HPFanatics311**, **hotaru420**, **ali potter**, **chisox727**: I know you all hate cliffhangers, and that's what makes me the same as you guys. I hate my self for not updating sooner and I am soo sorry for the long wait! Now that school is over, my updating should become more regular and frequent. Hope this chapter satisfies most of the cliff you were left with at the end of the last chapter!! Thanks so much for the review!

**Steve Lover**: Long reviews aren't stupid! I was so happy for it! Your extensive writing was well appreciated. As far as what is coming up in the chapters ahead, I can't really give too much away, but I can say that if everything went the way that you hope, it would be your story and not mine. Now, that just sounded really bitchy, but I'm writing it how I want it, of course with some discrepancy because of reviews. I am not saying that your review was worthless; I'm just not going to make MAJOR plot changes to fit the wants of one person. Sorry! Oh, now I'm making myself feel bad for being so mean to you. THANKS OOOOODLES FOR YOUR FANTASTIC REVIEW (Did that even partially compensate for the meanness? I hope it did at least a little bit…)!!

**Destiny13**: Thanks oodles for checking out my story! I have to tell you that I absolutely love yours… so good! I really hope you like the new installment. Good luck on your finals; I have them this week, too. They are so…eych. Update soon and I will too!

* * *

Also, I made a few format changes and changes in the Author's Notes to the last two chapters, so if you read them immediately as I posted them, you may want to go back and skim them over.

* * *

In response to one of the unanswered questions from the last chapter: 

**tchotch·ke** (chatch kuh)  
_n._ _Slang_

1. A cheap showy trinket.

2. The Nauti Dolphin's favorite word!

I am such a complete dork… Oh, god, someone please save me.

Well, finally. Here it is!

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Sidetracked Search**

* * *

_I need serenity,_

_In a place where I can hide._

_I need serenity,_

_Nothing changes; days go by._

_Where do we go when we just don't know?_

_…when will we learn to control?_

_Serenity, Godsmack_

* * *

Draco felt a soft hand touch his cheek. He was too drained of energy, even after sleeping to open his eyes and find whom it was. He didn't even know where he was. Wherever he did happen to be, it smelled of crisp linen and there was an unnaturally clean odor that stung his nostrils. He supposed he must be in some kind of medical institution. Not St. Mungo's, or at least he hoped he wasn't that badly injured. He must be in the Hospital Wing. He was finally able to open his eyes and see who it was standing at his bedside. The sun stung his eyes as though he had never been exposed to light, but he forced himself to open his eyes again because he thought he must be mistaken as to what he saw. _Why on earth is Granger here? Shouldn't she be off in the library studying or something? Why does she care about whether I live or die?_ With his need to find answers to his questions, he finally mustered up enough strength to forcibly murmur, "What in all hells is going on?"

Hermione shushed him. "You shouldn't try so hard to talk. You might hurt your frail, weak body. Not that I really care, anyways." She sat down in a chair next to his bed. "I was beginning to think you would never wake up. Boy, can you snore. You've been conked out for almost two days. The only reason I'm here is because I was assigned to check up on you since I was the last person with you before you passed out. Why did you do that, anyways?"

Draco turned away from her. He had wondered himself what happened. All he remembered from that night was the gash on his arm reopening, trailing blood across the cold bathroom floor, making his way to the corner, and finally the ground coming closer and closer until all was black. He couldn't believe it had been almost two days since then. _I must be the hot gossip topic of the week. I'll just turn it around on someone else, but for now there is nothing I can_ _do._ He felt as though he would never be able to move again. He did feel weak, but he would make no moves to let Hermione know that was true. The thought that she was the last one with him bugged him out. Which made him think about how exactly it was he got out of the prefects' bathroom in the first place. "How exactly did we get out of the bathroom, exactly?"

"What? Oh, well, apparently Professor McGonagall was on her way to her dormitory when she heard my 'unearthly' scream upon me seeing you covered in blood on the ground. She rushed to the bathroom and brought us both to the Hospital Wing, as I had also fainted, with Snape's help. While you obviously got excused from the rest of your week's detentions, I have to serve another Thursday night. But at least you got me off of three of them," Hermione added with a slightly grateful laugh.

"Right. So, I suppose I'm who everyone's been talking about lately and the butt of every joke."

Hermione snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. Anyone who even noticed you were gone is just under the impression that you have the flu."

"So, you're the only one who knows otherwise?"

"Along with McGonagall, Snape, Madam Pomfrey, and the Headmaster, I'm sure, then, yes."

"You didn't run off and tell Potty and the Weasel? I'm surprised," Draco said, lips curling into a snarl.

"I don't tell them everything, you know."

"Betraying your best and only friends?!" Draco gasped in mock astonishment. "That can't be good, as far as your social life is concerned."

"I have _other_ friends," Hermione said, though the thought of telling him Lavender, the Patils, and Ginny were her new mates didn't seem like such a great comeback. "But what I _don't have_ is time for you. It's too bad you're here instead of six feet under- where you belong. But, then again, that would put you out of your pain and suffering." Hermione turned on her heel and sped out of the Hospital Wing.

It was at times like these that Hermione would have gone to find Ron and Harry and told them about her whole screwy situation with Malfoy. But that would be doing just what Draco expected of her. It would turn out to be just another thing he could taunt her about. She wasn't about to just hand herself over to him. Hermione desperately needed to tell someone, but no one else could understand her and the ongoing Draco-suffering the way Harry and Ron did. She just needed someplace to herself where she could curl up in front of a fire and read a good book. _I could use some practice on my Flame-Freezing Charms,_ she thought to herself. She sped in the direction of her common room on the fifth floor to get her _Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7_.

Upon entering the common room which she shared with him, Justin called out, "Hey Hermione!" from the center of a group of their fellow seventh-years. Dean, Seamus, Ernie Macmillian and two other boys Hermione was not quite familiar with echoed the Head Boy's greeting. "We were just talking about you," Justin said, "and we were, er, wondering… izitruabowunRon?"

"Pardon me? I don't think I quite heard you correctly," Hermione coolly replied, while picking up her spell book off the common room floor and wondering exactly why she was the hot topic of conversation among her fellow male classmates.

"Er, are you and Ron, er, romantically involved?" Justin queried sheepishly.

"My gosh, no!" Hermione exclaimed, suppressing a laugh at the thought of how silly the idea was. "I mean, Ron's one of my best mates, but me? With him? Not since last time I checked." Hermione's amused mood turned colder as she remembered that these boys had just been talking about her. "Why do you ask?" she ferociously questioned. "Who even mentioned the idea to you, anyway?"

Justin feebly replied, "Well, Ernie's the one who brought it up-"

But Ernie cut him off, "I did not!" At Hermione's stern look, he rethought his answer. "Well, really I did. But I didn't make it up! I heard it from Zacharias Smith!"

Seamus filled in, "Zacharias told me that he heard it from a Slytherin."

At the utterance of that last word, Hermione went stiff and a very uncomfortable silence overcame the room. After a few seconds of this dead silence, which seemed to last for ever, and Hermione brooding over the looming thought that she knew exactly who had instigated the rumor, she angrily and just as equally threateningly muttered, "Malfoy will pay…" She headed for the door, spell book clenched tightly to her chest. Without another word, she was gone. All that could be heard was the light, jolly crackling of the fire, which did not at all suit Hermione's current mood.

Justin finally broke the quiet, "Brilliant, Seamus, telling her it was a Slytherin…"

"What was I supposed to say?! It was the truth!" he retorted.

"But still, you got her all pissed off. Oh, jeez," Justin sighed as he sunk back into his armchair. "I suppose I shouldn't have brought it up in the first place."

"Ya think?!" Seamus responded, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

'o'

Hermione finally reached the portrait of Barnabas the Balmy trying to teach trolls to dance ballet, out of breath from her hurried pace and frustration towards Malfoy. She paced back and forth quickly in front of the stretch of blank wall, concentrating on her desires to be in a place where she could be alone and relax by reading a book. She opened the newly formed door to the room across from the strange painting, finding the room filled with exactly what she needed: a crackling fire, endless shelves of books, comfortable armchairs, and most importantly, solitude. _Thank god for the Room of Requirement,_ Hermione gratefully thought.

She walked towards the hearth and sunk into the most inviting armchair and opened up Miranda Goshawk's book, turning to page 374 and began to read.

_When performing a Flame-Freezing Charm, it is important to enunciate…_

_I need to talk to someone…_

_When performing a Flame-Freezing Charm, it is important to enunciate…_

_I've never had to endure something like this alone…_

_When performing a Flame-Freezing Charm, it is important to enunciate…_

_I want to tell them, but I can't give Malfoy the satisfaction…_

_When performing a Flame-Freezing Charm, it is important to enunciate…_

When Hermione finally realized she has read the same line four times over, she knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate on reading at all, which was something that didn't happen to her very often. It was really ridiculous. She had no reason to let him occupy her thoughts. As much as she longed for the solitude only found here, she new she would go mad if she stayed for much longer. Very reluctantly, she dragged herself out of the chair, away from the hearth's flickering warmth, and towards the door. She needed to find Harry and Ron.

'o'

Upon entering the Fat Lady's corridor, Hermione realized that she had been missing a lot of what it felt like to be a Gryffindor. She wasn't in the common room nearly as much as she was in previous years, even though she used to constantly be in the library. She just felt so much more a part of the Lion House spirit when she still lived there. Not that she was complaining about having her own common room; she just missed being so included as a Gryffindor. Regardless, she muttered, "Merlin's beard" at the portrait and stepped into the common room. Much to her comfort, she found the common room much unchanged from how she remembered it, sporting everything, from hearthrug to armchairs in bright golds and reds. She spotted, on a table in the corner, a Wizard's Chess set she was sure belonged to Ron. Some familiar faces called out a "Hey, Hermione!" in her direction, which she politely and quickly responded to on her hurried way to find the two awol boys.

Hermione opened the door leading to the spiral stone staircase of the boys' dormitories. She opened the door to the room in which the Gryffindor seventh year boys shared. Upon entering, she heard voices from behind the curtains drawn around one of the five beds in the circular room. "Harry James and Ronald Bilius! I know you're in here…" She ripped back the crimson drawings from the bed to reveal Neville and Lavender in a compromising lip-lock. "Oh, gosh," Hermione gushed after getting over the initial shock, turning around immediately, "I'm so sorry to have interrupted-"

"No, it's okay-I was just leaving," Lavender cutting Hermione short. "Neville…he…I… Let's go back to the common room, 'kay, Herms?"

"Right," Hermione uncomfortably replied, catching one last glance at Neville's flushed cheeks and Lavender giving him one last kiss and whispering something inaudible to Hermione into his ear. Lavender adjusted her robes and headed with Hermione to the door.

Once they were out of his earshot, Lavender gushed, "Omigod, I'm so sorry you walked in on that…"

"It's fine," Hermione replied as comfortingly as she could. "I just had no clue. Since when have you two…?"

"Well, it's kind of a recent development, but he has gotten a lot better-looking since our first year, you've got to admit."

"I guess I can see where you're coming from…"

"Exactly," Lavender said matter-of-factly. "But he's no where as hot as that stud muffin Malfoy…" she swooned.

And just like that, Hermione went from pleasantly forgetting the whole Malfoy situation to having it painfully tear into each of her conscious thoughts, turning Hermione's light-hearted mood to the icy cool portrayed only by a frozen-solid heart.

'o'

A few minutes later, Hermione had reached the common room and, politely as she could manage, broke away from Lavender and Parvati's frenzied talk of Lavender's new relationship. _Poor Neville_, Hermione thought to herself as she scanned the common room for a sign of Harry or Ron.

Instead she laid eyes on Ginny, who was sitting in a corner, surrounded by books and furiously scribbling on a piece of parchment. Ginny felt Hermione's presence, cleared the books off of the chair next to her and welcomed Hermione to join her. "It may seem as though I'm doing homework, but I don't think you would ever see me this concentrated on a Potions essay," Ginny said, with a small laugh at her own joke.

Hermione smiled, though not put out of her horrible mood, and sat down in the newly open chair. "So, who's the new guy you're writing to?" Hermione questioned knowingly.

"Me and Dean've decided to see each other again," Ginny replied sheepishly. "It really just wasn't working out with Anthony Goldstein. Turns out he's quite the prat… I was having an awful row with him out near the lake, and Dean came by and told him to shove off. It was so adorable! Besides, I was just talking with Dean about how neither of us really knows why we split up in the first place. He's really great," Ginny concluded dreamily.

"I'm sure," Hermione responded skeptically, "but why are you writing him instead of talking to him?"

"Oh, well his gran's not well, so he's taken a bit of a short holiday. I thought I'd give him something that might cheer him up in what's got to be a very gloomy atmosphere back home," Ginny explained.

"That's too bad. I hope she feels better," Hermione said with as much sympathy she could muster. "Really tragic. What I was really here for was to see if you could possibly tell me where your brother and Harry have gotten to."

"I met them on my way up the stairs; I think I heard them mention something about the Great Hall…"

"Thanks, Gin. I'll talk to you later. Good luck, with Dean and all." Hermione headed for the door, but turned back to face Ginny when she remembered something she had to tell Ginny. "Oh, and as my duties as Head Girl, it is my responsibility to prompt you to, in turn, do all of your prefect duties for the day before dinner!" Hermione reminded Ginny in a joking yet serious way.

"Right, I'll be on that," Ginny called unpromisingly at Hermione's once again turned back as she headed for the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Based on the information she had just received form Ginny, Hermione headed to make her way down seven flights of the Grand Staircase. When she reached it, the staircase was teeming with students down near the fifth floor. She saw Hannah Abbot, one of the prefects, taking care of the situation.

She ducked down the sixth floor corridor, heading for a secret passageway that led almost directly to the Great Hall. When she finally reached the empty classroom in which this passageway, she opened the door and made her way towards the back of the classroom.

Hermione picked up _A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions_ down its thick, leather-bound spine from the middle of the shelf and opened it to page 523. She tapped the center of the page with her wand, uttered a spell, and the bookcase slid out of the way, revealing a long, dark, stone, spiral slide. She mumbled "_Lumos_" and began to slide down the six flights to the Great Hall. Too concentrated on getting to Harry and Ron, she took no pleasure in the rush of speeding down the seemingly never-ending chute…

'o'

Hermione came upon the Great Hall and stormed through the gigantic double doors, from which was drifting the light chatter of students waiting to be served their dinners. She made her way to the Gryffindor table, spotting Ron's unmistakably vibrant red hair, bowed down and almost touching his forehead to Harry's scarred one. Hermione marched over to the two of them, loudly enough so that they were aware of her coming and able to cease their deep conversation before she came within earshot.

When she finally reached them, she was greeted with two toothy smiles and demanded to know, "Where have you two been?! I've been looking _everywhere_ for you!"

Their smiles faltered. "Er… we… er- Harry?" Ron passed the explaining-to-do off to Harry, but he was in turn saved by Dumbledore.

The Headmaster had risen out of his chair, as if to make a speech. "I know you all must be very hungry," the Professorhead began, adjusting his half-moon spectacles, "But I have a few words that I would like to share with you,. Before I begin, I wanted to quickly congratulate Ravenclaw on their Quidditch victory over Hufflepuff yesterday," he paused to allow some mild applause from one of the long middle tables covered in a long blue table cloth to which house the victors belonged. "But the real reason I am momentarily denying you your dinners is because I have some exciting news. In a few weeks, we will be receiving a troupe of students from Betagamma Institute for the Magically Inclined as part of a foreign exchange program." There were collective _oo_hs and _ahh_s from the students as Dumbledore paused yet again. "I hope you will give them all a warm welcome to Hogwarts. Any student over sixteen wishing to be part of this exchange program and travel to Greece should contact Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress. I would also like to see the Head Boy and Girl and all prefects in my office after dinner has finished. Thank you for your valuable time."

As soon as Dumbledore sat down, excited chatter erupted from all parts of the Great Hall, echoing up to the bewitched ceiling, which depicted dark grey clouds revealing only a few shining stars between them. "I wanted to talk to you about something," Hermione said to the two boys who were ravenously wolfing down the newly present feast on their plates.

"Thoot," Ron thickly directed her through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Well, I'd rather not talk to you about it here. It's not really top secret or anything; I'd just rather tell you later. Come to my common room after dinner." Hermione stood up to leave, unable to eat due to Malfoy-induced loss of appetite.

"Where are you running off to?" Harry asked after quickly taking a big gulp of a mouthful of shepherd's pie.

"I'm not hungry, so I may as well go to see what Dumbledore needs us for now," she replied. "I'll tell you everything, including what we are being summoned to the Professorhead's office for, when I see you afterward," she promised. "You do know how to get there right?" After Ron's, then Harry's, nods of assent, she called, "See you later," over her shoulder and made her way towards the Headmaster's office, wondering what on earth Dumbledore could want.

* * *

A/N: Okay, okay, I admit that there could have been way more Draco/Hermione action, but I have to build up the plot, peoples! I am also sorry for not updating for so long. I'm just a lazy-ass and there is no excuse. I really hope you like it. I also realize that I didn't answer that many questions that I presented you with in the A/N of the second chapter… I'm really sorry, but they will all be answered in due time, I promise! 

But here are some things that _will_ be coming up in the next chapter: Why was Hermione summoned to the Headmaster's office? Will Hermione ever get the chance to finally talk to Harry and Ron? How soon will I be able to update now that school is over? Other questions you have may also be answered, but since I don't know what you're questions are, you'll just have to review and tell me! :D

Charlotte ;)


	4. Some News, a Letter, and Another Detenti...

Hey, guys-

I just realized something: I made Justin Finch-Fletchley the Head Boy, but he was not the boy appointed for Hufflepuff prefect for the Golden Trio's year (Ernie Macmillan was). I don't know if one needs to be prefect in order to be Head Boy or Girl, but I imagine that is the case (if someone could verify that point, I'd love you forever). Sorry for the mix-up, but I am just going to leave him to be Head Boy for this story. I am going to have it so that there is a replacement as the Gryffindor seventh year girl prefect spot that Hermione filled, but just for this story, so that the Head position is a separate entity from being prefect. Actually, this mix-up will end up lending itself to the story… but you'll find out about all of this later!

If you were totally confused by that, either read it over and try to understand it, or just ignore it. It's not really a huge deal, just a point I wanted to clarify and admit my mistake to.

Thanks to **Son Christine, Lady Paine, mintytoothpick, Kiran, **and** chisox727** for reviewing.

And, now, on with the show…

* * *

**Chapter 4: Some News, a Letter, and Another Detention**

* * *

_You can't find the words to say_

_All the things that come to you._

_Island in the Sun, Weezer_

* * *

As Hermione approached the end of the hallway, she saw a small crowd of people congregated around a stone gargoyle hiding the entrance to the Headmaster's circular office. She turned up her nose in disgust at the sight of Justin, for whom she still harbored contempt from the previous events of the evening. She was just about to go talk to Ginny when, with a swish of his flowing, cobalt robes, Dumbledore appeared in front of the huddle of students.

"Thank you for taking your time to come here," he addressed the puzzled, interested faces before him. "If you would all just step into my office," he said, making his way towards the stony creature guarding the way. "Drooble's Best Blowing Gum," he muttered at the statue, in response to which it sprang to life and moved out of the way. Dumbledore motioned for the students to follow him up the stairs.

The students, most of whom had never set foot in the office before, gazed around in awe at the many things all over the Professorhead's office. The portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses stared right back at them with looks of great interest and murmured through their frames to one another. Hermione noticed the regal Fawkes sitting on his perch elegantly who looked back at her unblinkingly, as she wondered why on earth Ron hadn't shown up yet. Sometimes, she would just love to kick him for ignoring his prefect duties. The Patils were carefully inspecting the Sorting Hat who sat motionless on the shelf. More prefects filed in, including Ron ("Finally", Hermione whispered under her breath), Pansy, of whom Hermione made a point of not being seen by, and Ernie Macmillan, who was still somewhat of a sore spot for Hermione. Subconsciously, she noted Draco's absence. Dumbledore, who had sat down at his desk, cleared his throat. The students reluctantly drew their gazes from all the curious things in the office and the Headmaster began to speak.

"I have summoned you all here to speak with you about the exchange program I mentioned in the Great Hall earlier. As prefects and Head Boy and Girl, it will be especially your duty to make these students feel at home here in ours. Each of you will be assigned a student who will attend your classes with you and who you will help to learn the ways of our school and the English language." He paused and some students let out excited whispers, urging the Headmaster to go on. "For those of you who were interested by the prospect of traveling to Greece, we will get others to fill your position. These students will be somewhat of an added responsibility, but I would not have named you prefects if I did not think you could handle it. The students should be arriving in about a month. Now, are there any questions?"

Ginny's hand wiggled furiously in the air. "Are we going to be, er, lodging with the students?" she asked, face turning a brilliant shade of scarlet.

"No, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said with a kind and knowing smile. "They will be provided with separate lodgings. Anyone else?" No one else raised a hand. "Well, then. If you do happen to think of any more questions, feel free to see me. Thank you for your time." The students left in threes and twos, Hermione meeting up with Ron and Ginny on her way out.

"I hope I get a guy!" Ginny gushed, and then giggled. "Not to offend Dean or anything, but, well, Greek guys are supposed to be really hot!"

Hermione laughed, while Ron rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, well, I hope I get a smart one so I can copy off of their stuff." Hermione gave him an annoyed look. "I know I'm supposed to be good and all, 'cause I'm a prefect, but how can you blame me? I'm not nearly as smart as you are."

Hermione gave him a friendly punch on the arm. "I'm only letting you off because you managed to turn that one into a compliment," she said as they headed towards the Grand Staircase. "If you really need help that badly, I suppose I can tutor you, if you'd like."

"Maybe. I kinda feel bad that me and Harry've been copying off of you for all these years. Plus, I'm not gonna be able to copy off you forever. I need to learn how to do things myself." He, along with Hermione, bid Ginny adieu as she headed up towards the Gryffindor common room and the other two headed down the fifth floor corridor. "But anyway," Ron continued, "what was it that you wanted to tell me and Harry?"

As they walked by the Muggle Studies classroom, Hermione thought about what she had wanted to talk with them about. Now that she did think of it, it seemed rather silly. _I was just upset before,_ she reasoned with herself. _I acted rashly. _

Upon seeing Harry waiting in front of the portrait of Glanmore Peakes, who appeared to be trying to have a conversation with Harry, she said to Ron, "Oh, it was nothing. I was just- just, well, upset before. But all this business with the Greek students has put me in a much better mood," she added cheerily as they neared their raven-haired friend. "Oh, Harry, you wouldn't believe it! We're getting to each have our own foreign exchange student! Isn't that so exciting?"

"Yeah, great," Harry replied with mild enthusiasm, letting out a big yawn. "I'm really tired, Hermione, and I've got Quidditch early tomorrow. What is it you wanted?"

"Oh, that. It was really nothing. Like I was telling Ron, I was just upset before. Sorry for making you guys come here!" she said in a truly apologetic for making a big fuss about nothing.

"It's alright," Harry said, letting out another big yawn. "I'm gonna go head off to bed. Coming, Ron?"

Ron snapped abruptly out of a daze. "What? Oh. Yeah, I'm coming. Night, 'Mione."

"Night, 'Mione," Harry called over his shoulder as he strode off towards the Grand Staircase with Ron in tow.

"Night, boys," Hermione said as she muttered the password and entered her common room.

As soon as the two boys escaped Hermione's earshot, Harry interrogated Ron, "Why were you staring at her as if she had three heads? It's just 'Mione."

"I was not!" Ron fired back indignantly.

With a sly smile, Harry replied, "Ron, you mouth was practically touching the ground. You're lucky she was so flustered that she didn't notice. I think someone's in looooove…" Harry teased as they climbed stone stairs.

"Shut it, Harry!" Ron shot at him, face slightly flushed. After a moment of embarrassed silence, Ron inquired curiously, "What makes you think I like 'Mione, anyway?"

"Ron, let's just say that subtlety is in no way your strong point. I'm surprised she hasn't noticed yet. Some friendly advice: Just tell her."

"Yeah, alright, Harry," Ron retorted, voice heavily laden with sarcasm as the boys prepared for bed. Harry did not reply; instead, he went about the rest of the night with a knowing smile spread across his face.

'o'

Hermione woke up feeling far more refreshed than she had the previous morning. She couldn't help but think, once again, about why she had let Draco get to her. But she quickly abolished those thoughts out of her mind as she got ready for her first class. As she walked towards breakfast in the Great Hall, schoolbag slung over her shoulder, she met up with Ron and Harry on her way down the Grand Staircase.

"Good morning, boys," she greeted them. "Get a good night's sleep?" The two boys just stared back at her with eyes that longed to be shut once again that proved sufficient to answer her question. "Not morning people are we? Well, maybe a good breakfast will cheer you up," she suggested hopefully as they waited for one of the staircases to slide into place.

When they finally reached the Gryffindor table, Hermione found herself shooting glances at the Slytherin table, noting, once again, Draco's absence. She sat down to eat the eggs and bacon on her plate, and, with another glance in the direction of the Slytherins, caught Pansy glaring evilly right back at her. _As if the Slytherins didn't already hate me enough for being non-pureblood and a Gryffindor,_ she thought to herself, _I had to go and be in detention with _him_ and now they think I'm the one who landed him in the Hospital Wing._ Hermione sighed heavily, shoving a forkful of eggs into her mouth and catching another glimpse of Pansy, who was now whispering something undoubtedly malicious to Millicent Bulstrode, who sat beside her. After swallowing that first bite of her breakfast, she realized that she was in no way hungry.

Ron looked at Hermione with a worried expression. "Are you okay, Hermione?"

But she didn't get the chance to answer his question, because a large, brown owl landed right on top of her bacon. It stuck its foot out at Hermione, who unleashed it from the letter it carried. The owl immediately swooped off and out the window, knocking over a jar of raspberry marmalade on its way. Hermione opened the letter and a smiling picture of a handsome and unfamiliar young man fell onto the polished wooden table. She put aside the picture and began to read the letter:

_Hermione Granger:_

_ Hello! I am your pal of pen, Costas Papaconstanzas. Our head of school told to us that we could write a letter to the student for our exchange foreign. I wanted to write to you so we could learn of each other before a first meeting in the month. I have in the letter a photography of I so you can know my looks. Please send me one if you can possibly. I can wait not for to meet you._

_ Costas Papaconstanzas_

_PS: I am sorry for bad English. I still am in learning._

When she finished reading the letter, Hermione gave a shriek of delight.

"What's the matter Hermione?" Ginny asked worriedly as she approached the table, rubbing the remnants of sleep from her eyes.

"Isn't he just gorgeous?" Hermione cried excitedly as she thrust the photograph of a smiling Costas into Ginny's hands as she re-read the letter.

"He is!" Ginny consented.

"And he's so sweet, too," Hermione added. "Read this. He tried so hard to write correctly in English. It could use a little work, but still, it's so adorable of him!" she shrieked again as Harry and Ron rolled their eyes.

At first Hermione was the object of more than a few strange looks, but as more people began to get similar letters, people became preoccupied with shrieking about their own exchange students.

Hermione turned to Ginny, "Did you get one?"

Ginny said halfheartedly, "No, I -"

An owl interrupted Ginny with a letter addressed to her. She hurriedly tore it open, eyes darting across the page. "I didn't get a guy," Ginny said with slight disappointment. "But I did get a girl who seems really nice," she consoled herself. "Her name's, er, Pamela Brettos. She didn't send a picture, but she said she would next time. Here, read it," she said, returning Costas's letter back to Hermione and also handing her Pamela's.

After reading the letter, Hermione said, "She does seem nice. What about you Ron? Who did you get? Or did you not get one?" Hermione asked her red-haired friend, who was wolfing down platefuls of breakfast food and had discontinued to pay attention to the situation once he realized nothing was wrong. Hermione repeated, "Who did you get?"

"Me?" Ron asked in surprise, mouth full of an assortment of food. He swallowed his food and continued, "Maybe mine just didn't send me a letter. Who knows? I'm not gonna fret about it, though. Try some toast, 'Mione."

"No, thanks, Ron. I'm not really hungry. I'm going to head to Transfiguration early. Coming along?" she asked her friends, who declined. "Fine, then. Don't be late!" she called over her shoulder as she headed out of the Great Hall.

'o'

At the end of lessons, which Hermione found as easy Transfiguration and even easier Charms, Hermione found herself with a supply of extra energy. She figured she would use it to tackle the Charms essay they had just been assigned, which was due at the end of next week. Somehow, she found her thoughts flickering back to Draco and realized that because of this, she would never be able to concentrate properly her work.

As she made to leave the Professor Flitwick's classroom, she realized also that it had been a long while since she enjoyed the presence of Ron and Harry. It was a rather nippy night, so she invited the boys up to her common room to accompany her by the fire for a cup of afternoon tea. They agreed and followed her up to the fifth floor. She hoped that Justin had decided to stay out for the day so she wouldn't be bothered with his unwelcome presence.

As the three made their way into the room, they found, much to Hermione's chagrin, Justin sitting in one of the large, yellow, squashy armchairs writing what seemed to be a letter of sorts. When he saw Hermione, and then Ron, enter the room, he grabbed his ink, quill, and parchment and fearfully tore up the stairs to his dormitory.

"What's his deal?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh, him. Well, he, I guess, he's a might bit afraid of me after I kind of exploded in his face yesterday," Hermione replied.

"What did he say to you that got you so upset?" Ron demanded to know.

"Well, let's just say it was something that wasn't true. He was just trying to verify a rumor. But it wasn't true so it doesn't matter," Hermione said, a tone of finality in her voice. Ron and Harry gave it up, giving each other significant looks that Hermione thankfully didn't notice.

Some moments of slightly uncomfortable silence passed as she conjured up a full tea set from the tip of her wand, tray and all, and poured them all a cup of tea. Hermione sat back in her chair and sighed. She broke the silence, "I just cannot believe that I have to serve another detention tomorrow night while Malfoy gets to sit up in the Hospital Wing. He is such an actor. I shouldn't have to serve that detention until he is well enough to serve it with me. Then again, it's Snape who gave them to us, so I'm not surprised that he got let off the hook."

"Speaking of Malfoy, what happened to him that landed him in the Hospital Wing in the first place?" Ron inquired curiously.

Hermione's eyes grew wide, her thoughts and heart racing at top-speed. _I should just tell them the truth,_ she told herself, but she was determined not to play into Draco's hand. She wasn't predictable; she didn't want to be. Hermione cleared her throat and shook her head. "I, well, I really don't know," she lied. "Maybe it's the flu?" she offered.

"Maybe. I just thought something happened while you were in detention with him," Ron explained.

Hermione found that she could not meet his eyes. She had hardly ever lied to Ron's face, or Harry's, for that matter. She sought quickly to change the subject. "So, how had Quidditch been lately?" she asked. Yes, she was that desperate…

'o'

The next night found Hermione heading towards Professor McGonagall's office to find her fate for the remainder of the night. It had been rather nice to spend sometime with Harry and Ron, even if it was talking about Quidditch. Actually, she had surprised herself as to how much she could contribute to the conversation. Hermione had, after all, dated Krum, even if it was for a short while. You'd have to be dull not to pick up some Quidditch terms and ideas while dating the most famous Seeker in the wizarding world.

She had even, after the boys had left, managed to do that Charms essay; Quidditch had put distracting thoughts of Draco out of her mind. But now, as she opened the door to McGonagall's office, she was glad she wouldn't have to be bothered with Malfoy for tonight.

"Ah, yes, Miss Granger. Please sit down," Professor McGonagall greeted her, gesturing towards a straight-backed chair positioned in front of McGonagall's desk. Hermione sat down and she continued, "Your detention tonight. I pleaded with Professor Snape to wait until Draco had recovered and to then let you serve it together, but he refused. No matter, because your detention should not be too awful. There has been a large influx of students into the Hospital Wing, and since Draco Malfoy is supposed to be under twenty-four-hour care, but due to these ill students, Madam Pomfrey cannot provide that. You will be doing it instead."

Hermione stared at her in disbelief for a few moments.

"Well, Madam Pomfrey is waiting, so hurry along," the Professor said, returning to her work.

Hermione tried to protest, "But, I… So, it's me? With Draco? All night?"

"That seems to be the case. At least until Madam Pomfrey is free again. Now, off with you," McGonagall said as she stood up and ushered Hermione out of the room. "You'll be fine." Professor McGonagall shut her office door, leaving Hermione out in the stone cold corridor, frozen with shock, wondering how she was going to survive through the night.

* * *

I am soo sorry that their was such a Draco draught in this chapter!! But I completely promise, there will be a lot of Draco goodness in the next chapter. I'm also REEEEEEEEEEEALY sorry that I took so long to update!!! Don't hate me! J I'll post a lot sooner than I did this last time!! Sorry again!! (I'm just full of apologies today)

Charlotte ;)


	5. A Promise

Hey, guys!

I'm back with another chapter. Sorry it took so long! I was on vacation. Hopefully it's enough to satisfy your cravings! It's a bit cliffy, but still good (or at least I hope!) Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5: A Promise**

* * *

_Everyone has a secret._

_But can they keep it?_

_No, they can't._

_Secret, Maroon 5_

* * *

The most shocking part of her detention assignment is that she thought she would have to actually come face to face with Malfoy. Hermione stood outside the double doors to the Hospital Wing, debating how much trouble she would get into if she skipped out on this detention. _With all this Malfoy business, I guess I'm not really in a position to get myself in any more trouble. _ She sighed and finally pulled open the heavy wooden doors to reveal an abnormally full and bustling Hospital Wing.

"Oh, not another one!" Madam Pomfrey sighed in exasperation. She paused. "Oh, Hermione, dear. It's you. Good. Ah, Mr. Malfoy is at the back, behind the curtain. Thank you ever so much for helping, dear."

Hermione smiled with polite stiffness, thinking to herself, _It's not as if I had the choice_. She made her way with extreme reluctance towards the last bed draped in a stiff white curtain, observing, along the way, the many beds full of students suffering from ailments such as massive nosebleeds and uncontrollable vomiting. Hermione had a strange suspicion that this large invasion of sick students had something to do with Fred and George, whose business, she heard was quite profitable.

Without realizing it, she had come upon Draco's bed. She pulled back the curtain to reveal Draco sitting up right, reading _The Daily Prophet._

"What the hell are you doing here, Granger?" was Draco's less-than-pleasant greeting from over the top of the newspaper.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Hermione asked with sickly fake sweetness. "I'm to watch you for the remainder of the night."

"Har, har, Granger. You're hilarious, has anyone ever told you that?" Draco scoffed with sarcasm, returning to the _Prophet_.

"Believe me, I'm even less excited about it than you. You really think I would come here if I didn't have to?"

"This is ridiculous. Get out of here."

"I'd absolutely love to, but I'm afraid therein lies the problem. This is my detention assignment. I'll stay here for a while, leave, and we can all go home happy." She silently dared Draco to call over Madam Pomfrey. He gave her a hardened stare, deciding she was right. But he wasn't about to make it easy for her.

"What is it, exactly, that you are here to do? Surely, you weren't assigned the task of merely sitting at the foot of my bed," Draco said, flashing her a devilish grin that she didn't see until it was too late.

"I was told to take care of you until Madam Pomfrey is done handling the other students…." Hermione's voice faded, regretting speaking the words as soon as they escaped her lips.

"So you wouldn't mind fetching me a glass of water, would you? Better make it three ice cubes, while you're at it." Draco simply smiled, as if being on the receiving end of Hermione's deathly glare was nothing.

"As if I'd wait on you hand and foot," she muttered as she grudgingly got up and fulfilled Malfoy's beverage wishes. He grabbed the glass from her outstretched hand without so much as thanks. "You're nothing but a great big pill, you know that, Malfoy?"

"I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear that. Now, I believe for me to fully enjoy the cooling, soothing experience of my drink, a massage is most definitely in order."

For the second time that night, Hermione was found to have a look of disbelief on her face and no words came from her mouth. She quickly traded it for a look of confusion when Draco unexpectedly erupted with laughter. When he was finally able to talk, he burst out, "You should have seen your face!" He broke out in to a fresh round of sniggering. "I can't believe you were actually going to do it! As if I'd let you even so much as touch me! Yeah, right!"

"You are truly despicable, Malfoy!" She heaved a great sigh of frustration. "Why don't we just give this up?" Hermione questioned with forced tranquility. "I mean, I say hurtful things to you, you say cruel things to me, and it's all getting us nowhere. So, why don't we just make a truce? At least for tonight," she pleaded.

"Er, are you serious, Granger?" She nodded. "Well, I guess, maybe, but…no. It'd ruin me. And like I would want to have a conversation with you," he hurriedly added.

She had thought he would say that, so she was prepared with an offer he wouldn't be able to resist. "I _bet_ you couldn't."

"You willing to put money where your mouth is?" he retorted, suddenly interested.

"Thirty Galleons worth."

"Fifty."

"Forty."

"Done." Before Draco knew what he was getting himself into, he had just agreed to have a civil conversation for about the first time in his life.

"Good. Well…" _This is going to be harder than I thought,_ she thought to herself as he searched for a topic of conversation. "Oh! I have some prefect news for you-"

"Yippee," Malfoy interrupted her in monotone.

"-as I was saying, each prefect, if they are not traveling to Greece, is to be host to a Greek student-"

"So that's what all that rubbish in that whacked-out letter was!" he realized, interrupting Hermione once again.

Hermione was about to yell at him for his incessant disruptions, but decided that she wasn't ready to pay him forty Galleons just yet. "Can I have a look at your letter?" she asked instead.

"Sure, if you can decipher it," he replied, to which they both laughed. _I had no idea that we could ever think the same joke was funny. Maybe this whole having a conversation business won't be so bad after all,_ he thought to himself as he handed her the letter.

She skimmed it over, reporting, "This Artemis guy sounds really cheeky. Good luck with him." She flashed him a smile- a genuine smile. Not many people had done that to him before.

"I don't think I ever could have understood what the bloke was saying. But, now that we are having this, er, civil conversation and all, can I ask you a question?"

Hermione was a bit taken aback. "As long as I can ask you one," she managed to finally say with an impish grin.

"Alright," Draco agreed, missing her facial expression and figuring her question couldn't be all that bad. "I've been wondering this for years: Why on _earth_ do you hang out with Potter and Weasley? What's so great about Mr. Ego and his destitute sidekick?"

"Well, for starters, they were really the only people who recognized me for anything else than books. Since then, we've been through so much together. Plus, they're not half-bad people. They can really pull through sometimes, too."

"They just seemed to not exactly be the bunch of people you would hang out with. Don't you have any friends that are girls or anything?"

"Not so fast, mister," she caught him. "I still have to ask you my question."

"Oh, fine," Draco gave in, pouting, Hermione subconsciously finding it adorable. He got out of bed gingerly to change the large white bandage covering his abdomen.

"I, well, what I wanted to ask you was this," she said, trying not to make it blatantly obvious that she was staring at his body. "What exactly happened to you that night in the bathroom?"

The sudden change in the mood of the conversation left a heavy silence between the curtains surrounding the bed.

As Hermione looked at him with longing eyes, biting her lip in anticipation, Draco couldn't help but get turned on. At the same time he racked his brain for a false answer to her question. He felt a surge of trust, believing he could actually tell Hermione. It ached terribly to hold inside all the intense emotions, but he just couldn't tell her. He searched for an answer sufficient for her, which was hard, considering she was undoubtedly the smartest, quickest girl in their year.

Hermione sat at the foot of Draco's bed, waiting for a response. She suspected that it was a traumatic experience for him, and he may not like to recall it, so she wasn't really surprised that he was taking his time to reply. Her eyes traveled down from his furrowed brow, to his dazzlingly silver eyes, to his pointed yet attractive nose, lingering for a moment on his lips, finally stopping on his gorgeous, toned body once again.

She inhaled sharply in sheer amazement at what appeared before her. Hermione closed her eyes, afraid that if she were to continue to look, she might do something she might regret. Before she could open her eyes, she felt, like a jolt of electricity, the presence of someone else's lips on her own. She enjoyed it for a small second, until she realized who it was doing the kissing.

Her eyes flew open and she tried to pull herself away from Draco. "What d'you think you're do-?"

Draco cut her off, pressing his lips once again against hers. _Doesn't she ever stop talking long enough to enjoy a good thing?_ he silently questioned. _I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it all came down to using my last resort. Besides, I've heard the Malfoy charm and sex appeal are inescapable and irresistible…_

But the longer the kiss endured, the harder the two of them found it to keep their hands off of each other, whether they liked to admit it or not. There is something about forbidden and unexpected love that is extremely tempting, and neither of them could deny the chemistry they shared.

At the sound of a sharp cough from somewhere outside the curtains, Hermione was finally able to come to her sensed. Her brains had triumphed over her heart, but she had a feeling that they had only wont the first battle of a long war to come. She pulled away rather forcefully from Draco.

With the kiss ended, neither could look at the other, thought they both stole glances at one another. Draco's plan had succeeded: he had managed to make her forget that she had asked the question in the first place. He had, though, gotten something he hadn't bargained for: an amazing kiss. Of all of the girls he had ever been with, Draco had never felt that intensity or chemistry in the first kiss. He didn't understand how someone like Hermione Granger could possibly make him feel that way, but he sure wasn't going to complain about it.

The silence that settled over the room was slightly awkward, but neither of them wanted to ruin it by committing anything to words. After a few moments, the silence was broken by Madam Pomfrey, who popped her head through the curtains, announcing, "That's about all of them. You may go now, Hermione dear. Oh, and could you help Mister Malfoy put a new bandage on, dear?" she asked Hermione as she disappeared back through the curtain.

"It's okay," Draco finally said, "I can do the bandage." He grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. He spoke again, this time in a more threatening voice, "If you tell anyone, especially Potter or Weasley, about anything, you'll be very sorry."

She looked back at him nonchalantly, not in anyway afraid of his threat. Hermione looked into his eyes, and instead of seeing them cold and hard, she saw round, pleading eyes, silently hoping he could trust her. She released herself from his grip and gave him a small smile. Without saying another word, she parted the stiff white curtains and left the Hospital Wing, only willing herself to look back at his bed once…

Hermione managed to go a whole week without saying a word to anyone about what happened to her that night. The first few days, it was ever-present in her mind, but she managed to push it towards that back of her thoughts. She hadn't spoken a word to Draco about anything for the entire week, thought Hermione would try to catch his eye and give him a little smile when she could.

While she waited for Ron to come to her common room for some Transfiguration help, she buried herself in these thoughts, so she was surprised when she heard Glanmore Peakes having a rather loud conversation with Ron. She opened the back of the wizard's portrait to let Ron in and rescue him from some lecture or another.

"Thanks, 'Mione, I never thought he'd shut up!" Ron greeted her jovially as they made their way towards two squashy armchairs beside the fire. "Thanks a bunch for doing this. You didn't have to, you know."

"I am perfectly aware that I could be doing something entirely better," she said in a jesting manner. "Did you ask Harry if he wanted to come?"

"Yeah, he said something about doing something with Cho. I didn't ask for details."

Ron and Hermione laughed before she got down to business. "Today, we'll be turning these snails into candles. Oh, really Ron, it's not all that complicated!" Hermione said upon seeing the look Ron gave her. She placed a snail in front of each of them. With a swish and a flick of her wand, the snail in front of her became a shining candelabra, each wick alight, eight flickering flames dancing before her eyes. "Now you try," she instructed Ron.

All that resulted from Ron's spastic wand movements was a flaming snail, slowly roasting until Hermione returned it to its original form. As Ron tried to transfigure his snail to no avail multiple times, Hermione began to think about Draco. She longed to tell somebody, contemplating only for a moment to tell Ron before she shut down the idea completely.

Ron interrupted her musings, "I just can't get the hang of it. Show it to me again?"

She partially ignored his question. "Ron, what would you do if someone made you promise not to tell about something, but you thought that someone might be getting hurt?"

"Who's hurting you?" he automatically asked in a worried tone, abandoning his snail-shaped candle and focusing his attentions on Hermione.

"Oh, no, it's not me, I just, I can't tell you. I promised."

"Look, Hermione, whatever it is, you don't have to tell me, as long as you're not getting hurt. If you ever want to tell me, I'll be right here. But nobody had the right to make you promise to do anything. C'mere."

Hermione went over, sat next to Ron and enveloped him in a grateful hug. _He's right,_ she told herself,_ I don't have to let him make me promise him anything._ But at the same time, she knew she could never betray those eyes he gave her that night… those round, pleading eyes…

The next day in last period Potions, everybody was itching to get out the moment they walked through the door, but no one more so than Hermione and Draco. Any class they had to endure with each other present was a rather uncomfortable experience and it was hard to say who was more excited to finish the class and have a long weekend to spend in each other's absence.

Draco was thankful that he didn't to have to pair up with Hermione, but with Millicent Bulstrode absent, he was left with Pansy as his partner. He managed his best to get his potion done as quickly as possible without completely botching it and at the same time trying to keep Pansy from touching him.

"Hey, Drakie," Pansy said to Draco, causing him to roll his eyes. "I was wondering, sweetie," - he cringed at her disgusting term of endearment – "if we could go do something tomorrow?" she asked, stimulating Draco's upchuck reflex by batting her fake eyelashes.

"How many times have I ever answered 'yes' to that question?" he spat back in disgust, adding asphodel root to the bubbling acid-green potion.

"Well, never, bu-"

_BOOM._

Neville and Hermione's potion exploded at the desk in front of Draco and Pansy, covering all four of them in a thick, blue substance, which also managed to splatter into Draco and Pansy's cauldron.

"Oh, Neville!" Hermione gasped as she zapped Scouring Charms at herself and the three others. "I _told_ you not to add that yet! Oh, stop whimpering! I can probably fix it…" She hurriedly added an array of ingredients to the mixture, returning it to the hot pink it was supposed to be.

Draco's upchuck reflex was stimulated once again that day when he caught a whiff of his potion. He contorted his face into one of disgust; and soon, the whole rest of the class was either coughing, gagging, or sporting disgusted expressions.

"Be careful, Drakie," Ron started from the desk next to Draco, imitating Pansy. "Stand any closer to that cauldron and you'll regret getting a whiff of that," he said, gesturing toward Draco and Pansy's cauldron. "We wouldn't want you to faint or anything," he laughed along with Harry, joined by the sniggers of some fellow Gryffindors.

Draco was just about to retort with a rather nasty comment, but he suddenly was stuck by the full effect of what the words really meant. _'…wouldn't want you to faint…'_ His eyes widened in shock. He actually believed that his heart stopped for a few seconds.

He turned to face Hermione, who previously had been listening to the conversation with one ear. She new stared back at him with eyes almost as wide as his. Draco tried to search them for traces of guilt, but couldn't concentrate on much of anything with his mind pulsing like it was.

Draco looked back and forth, from Ron to Hermione, in great disbelief. He couldn't imagine that she would tell him. _Why would she? How could she? But then, isn't this what she always did: run off to tell her two asinine pals about everything?_

He muttered something to Professor Snape about the Hospital Wing, rushing as quickly as possible from the dungeon classroom.

Hermione watched him go, knowing what he had just made of that whole situation. "Professor Snape, may I use the lavatory?"

"I suppose so," he snarled back reluctantly, "but be sure to get back ere in time to ass the next ingredient. Other wise, I will be forced to clean out you cauldron and dole out a zero to both you and Mr. Longbottom."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," she sucked up grudgingly, eager to catch up with Draco. Instead of turning left toward the bathrooms, she went right and fled up the stairs as fast as she could go.

Before she even came upon the Entrance Hall at the top of the stairs, her flight was interrupted when she caught her foot on something big and hard that blocked her path. She instantly felt a throbbing pain in her knee and checked to see if it was bleeding. She turned to inspect what it was that she tripped over and realized that thought she wasn't bleeding, the lump on the floor was. Upon realizing that she had tripped over a fallen body, she went around the front of the body, gasping as she confirmed her fears.

Draco lay, once again, in a bloody heap, ghastly white with Hermione as the only witness.

* * *

Good? I hope so! Please review, people! I really want to know how I can do better! I'll try to write A.S.A.P.! I will, thought be working on another little one shot idea I had, so it might be a bit delayed. Stay tuned though!!


	6. Marshmallows

A/N: I am sooo sorry that this took so long to update!! Ahh! I feel like such an idiot! I was on vacation for the past week and a half, but I know that I haven't updated long before that. I'm not gonna keep you any longer, cuz I already did for way too long!!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Marshmallows**

* * *

_You do something to me_

_That I can't explain_

_So would I be out of line _

_If I said, "I miss you"?_

_I Miss You, Incubus_

* * *

Hermione wondered if she had ever had a worse weekend in her life. Somehow, she felt responsible for what was happening to Draco, even though she had no idea how, why, or what was going on. She had managed to avoid talking to any Slytherins by staying holed up in her common room for most of the past two days. In the few times she actually went out, most everybody besides Harry, Ron, and Ginny avoided her anyways, as thought they feared she carried in infectious disease that she had given to Draco.

Harry and Ron, though they wanted so badly to know what was going on, knew not to press Hermione and that she would be more willing to tell them if they let her do it on her own.

She had hardly slept the night before, knowing she would probably have to face Draco in classes. She rubbed whatever sleep there was out of her eyes and shuffled towards her bathroom to prepare for the day.

When she finally got down to her common room, she noticed a large, bright blue notice hanging from the notice board. She walked over to it, reading:

_Hogwarts students:_

_There will be some changes with prefects and the like while the foreign exchange program takes place. All changes are notified here and are final. This notice also marks the deadline for students who wished to travel to Greece._

Hermione skipped over the part about the sixth year replacements, figuring Ginny would fill her in on all that later. She continued to read:

_7th Year Prefect Replacements_

_Hannah Abbott to be replaced by Susan Bones_

_Pansy Parkinson to be replaced by Emily Nott_

_Draco Malfoy to be replaced by Blaise Zabini_

At first, Hermione was filled with extreme joy at the fact that Pansy would be taking off to go to a whole other country. She did wonder, though, why Draco was leaving in his poor condition. She noticed Justin come down the stairs and quickly pass her on his way out. She decided to read what was left of the notice for any additional information. She was in complete shock at what she found:

_Also, Head Boy Justin Finch-Fletchley will be replaced by Draco Malfoy._

_These changes will go into effect as of next Monday. Anyone with questions may contact Professor McGonagall after classes today._

Hermione's first reaction was to march straight into McGonagall's office and give her a piece of her mind. But as she heard the portrait click shut, she rushed out of it after Justin. She saw him rushing down the hall, but managed to call after him, "Justin! If you run away from me, you'll be really sorry! Get back here right now!"

Justin debated for a moment whether he should just keep walking like he never heard her or turn around and face the music. He decided that Hermione was not a force to be reckoned with and turned back to her with a sheepish, guilty smile.

"When were you planning on telling me that you were going to leave me with a new Head Boy?!" she shrieked in his face.

"Look, Hermione, this is kind of the reason I didn't tell you, but obviously that wasn't the right choice. I'm sorry, but I didn't want to go the rest of the year with bad feelings between two people who are supposed to be role models for the other students. I'm really sorry, Hermione. I didn't know that Draco would be picked as my replacement. I thought it would be Ernie or something."

Hermione was completely knocked off her feet. She had thought that Justin would have said something stupid, but he seemed sincerely sorry. "I would have much preferred it if you had told me instead of me finding out this way, but… Well, thanks for apologizing. I guess I was in a really shitty mood that day anyways. No hard feelings?" She reached out her hand.

He shook it. "No hard feelings."

"Justin, I really wish you weren't going and all. I mean, I hardly got a chance to know you. Well, if I don't see you again, have fun in Greece," she said, silently hoping she could change his mind and that he would stay to relieve her from the torture of sharing Head duties with Draco.

"Thanks, Hermione," he said, heading down the hallway. "I gotta get to class. Good luck with Draco," he called behind him as he turned the corner.

Hermione began to walk in the opposite direction, towards the Grand Staircase, wondering exactly how much good luck she would need to make it through the year with Draco.

'o'

"Oh, Ginny, it's just awful!"

"What's the matter, Hermione?" her friend questioned as they sat down for dinner in the Great Hall.

"Justin, well, you know how I was all mad at him for being an ass that day? Well, today I got all mad at him because he failed to tell me that he would be leaving for Greece."

"Um, Hermione, I don't exactly see what's so terrible…"

"Oh, no, it's not that. He said he was sorry for that and I forgave him. The bad part is that him not telling me led to my extremely unprepared state when I read that Malfoy, of all people is going to replace him as Head Boy!" Hermione said in exasperation.

"Oh, Herms, I know this must seem like the worst thing ever, but it's only as bad as you make it out to be. Just try not to think about it. You'll be fine. It's not as though you are really forced to have much contact with him. What's going on with him, anyway?"

"In all honesty, I don't know. I'd like to find out myself…"

'o'

For the rest of that week, Hermione managed the best she could to follow Ginny's advice. She found that as long as she didn't actually lay eyes on him, it wasn't all that hard to keep from thinking about him. As the end of Monday came around with no Draco in sight, Hermione refused to get her hopes up and believe that he wasn't coming. Instead, she decided to tidy up the common room, finding that in her nervous flurry, she had already cleaned everything up. She was furious at herself for acting this way, but she couldn't help it.

She sat down in an armchair, rubbing her temples and sighing deeply. Hermione certainly didn't want to look like she was waiting here for him, but she certainly didn't want to even imagine what Draco would claim as his if she wasn't here. She decided to go up to her room and get a book so it at least looked like she was doing something else.

Hermione's sensible side finally caught up with her, telling her that maybe it would be better to turn over a new page in the book of their previously horrible relationship. As fellow Heads, they should have a good relationship to set an example for all the other students and encourage interhouse relations. In fact, she could use a good laugh, which Draco's face at the absence of her hostility would provide. She ran up the stairs to her own bedroom to get the things she needed.

'o'

"Mobiliarbus," Draco muttered at his trunk, floating it behind him as he walked out of the Slytherin common room to meet up with Justin Finch-Fletchley in the Entrance Hall. _I am only doing this because it's about time there was some pureblood representation in a Head position. I mean, what was Dumbledore thinking when he assigned two Mudbloods as Head Boy and Head Girl?_ Draco sighed exasperatedly as he reached the top of the stairs.

Justin, a little intimidated by Draco though he tried not to show it, addressed him, "Good, you made it. Uh, since you're going to be Head Boy and everything now, you need to know where the common room is. I'll explain everything to you on the way there," he said, turning on his heel and ascending the Grand Staircase. Draco followed, trying hard to pay attention to Justin's lecture on Head Duties. "Now, as Head Boy, it is very important to set a good example…"

But Draco's thoughts drifted elsewhere. _I hope I can make it through this year with _her_ as my co-Head. If we have to share a bedroom… I just don't think I could handle that._ "Oy, Finch!" he called out ahead of him, interrupting Justin's monologue on being a good Head Boy. "Do I have to, er, share a room with Granger?"

"No, Malfoy," Justin replied, surprised at his sudden interjection, "You only have to share a common room with her. I don't think I'd still be alive if it had been the other way. Good luck with her. Try to stay on good terms with Hermione, both to set a good example and to survive the remainder of the year. Now, as I was saying…"

Draco tuned out again, wondering silently if there would be any more compromising situations as the one they shared that night in the Hospital Wing. Come to think of it, he wondered if Hermione had thought about that incident just as much as he had…

'o'

Hermione bounded down the stone steps toward the common room, arms full of an assortment of interesting things. She walked toward the fireplace, muttered, "Incendio" at the stack of logs and spread out everything on the rug. She propped her back up against an armchair, draping the heavy quilt she brought with her over her legs, thanking Merlin that it just happened to be a cool night.

Just as she was putting the final touches on her arrangement, she heard a click as the portrait hole closed and Draco walked into the common room. Before he could get out a single nasty word, she spoke up, "Hello, Draco- is it alright if I call you Draco? It just seems so formal to call you Malfoy. Well, I just thought that you'd like to maybe join me for some hot cocoa and marshmallows by the fire when you are done checking out your room. Are you up for it?" She smiled sweetly, sincerely loving the disbelieving look on his face.

_THUD._

Draco's trunk smacked into the ground loudly because he was not able to concentrate on keeping it afloat. He was completely agape at Hermione's random act of kindness. He didn't know how to react. _What happened to her? Why is she being nice? I don't get it…_

Draco finally managed to gather up the ability to speak, "I…er…what the hell…?" Getting no response from Hermione but that smile that was getting creepier by the minute, he just decided to unpack, sort out his brain, and come back downstairs to see what this was all about. He magically picked up his trunk once again, made a mad dash for the stairs, letting out a huge breath when he finally reached the top and barged through the door marked with the letters 'H.B.'

He set his trunk down more gently in to a corner of the room and sat down on the bed, head in his hands. _What happened to me down there? The real Draco Malfoy doesn't pussyfoot his way out of situations. He's suave, he's debonair… not skittish around girls! Why did I act like that? I mean, is she for real? Maybe she's just trying to start over again… Well, it is rather cold, and I always was a sucker for a cup of hot cocoa, so I guess I may as well just go downstairs…_ Finally able to calm himself down and recollect himself, Draco descended the stairs in a fashion more like the Draco most of Hogwarts had come to hate.

At the bottom of the stairs, Draco walked into the room, spotting Hermione sitting in front of the hearth, humming what sounded vaguely like Christmas carols. He silently admired her boldness for a moment before making himself known with an undeniably fake cough.

"Oh, Draco! So you decided to come down! Good!" Hermione motioned towards a cushion next to her. "Come sit down! I've got some cocoa here for you."

He smiled at her sweet innocence, not really caring if it was an act or not. He walked over and sat down on the cushion next to her, accepting the perfectly warm drink. He found it to be the best hot cocoa he ever tasted, but he wasn't about to flatter her that much. Draco just smiled and set his cup down on the hearth. "So, Granger, why are you so goddamn happy today?"

"Well, besides being the receiving end of one of Ron's misfired Cheering Charms, I guess I just wanted to give you a warm welcome." Hermione realized that although she was lying, she was up for abandoning her scruples to get him to open up to her. She was very good at reading emotions and was dying to know what troubled Draco so much. Somehow, she also felt as though she had a right to know, what with being exposed to so much of it while only being told so little.

Draco snorted. _Somehow, there's something going on other than some wayward spells, but I can't put my finger on it. I didn't think any amount of Cheering Charms could get her to be nice to me, but I guess I may as well take advantage of the situation…_ "So, if I said that I find your appearance particularly disgusting this evening," he said, suppressing a laugh, "you would just smile right back at me?"

Hermione plastered a painful smile on her face to keep up the charade she had set up for herself. "I guess so… But that's besides the point," she ushered on, ignoring Draco's laughter. "Why don't we roast marshmallows?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, right, Muggle custom." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, usually, Muggles will go camping in the woods, make a fire in the middle of a small clearing, shove sticks through marshmallows, and hold them over the fire until the turn the appropriate golden-brown shade." She took the look on his face as a sign that he hardly understood a word she had said. "In case you missed all that, it's a rather fun way to make a rather tasty treat."

Hermione ripped open a bag of Stay-Pufts, thrusting a stick into the middle of one of them. She held the puffy white confection over the crackling flames. "Help yourself," she said to Draco, motioning to the bag and another metal rod between them.

Draco followed as best he could to copy what Hermione had done, then leaned back to rest on one hand as he gave her a triumphant smile.

"I wouldn't be so sure of yourself, Draco. Roasting a good marshmallow takes some skill, so this would probably be the worst time to be cocky about something you don't even know…"

But she was cut short by the sudden _woosh_ of flames as Draco's marshmallow caught on fire. He threw the poker down, almost burning a hole in the rug if it hadn't been for Hermione's quick thinking. "Glacius!" She fired a Freezing Spell at the marshmallow, announcing to Draco that he might be best off throwing that one away and starting over with a little help from her.

"I don't need your help!" he responded hotly, picking up the gooey, charred mess. "I'll just eat it- I'm sure it's a hell of a lot better than yours!" he said, furiously shoving the destroyed marshmallow into his mouth.

"Oh, Draco, don't!" she warned in extreme disgust far too late.

His smug expression quickly changed to that of extreme nausea as he swallowed the contents of his mouth. After he was sure he could open his mouth without hurling, he asked in outrage, "How could any one ENJOY that?!"

"Because that's not how you do it," Hermione retorted, stifling a giggle. "They're supposed to look like this," she said, popping the marshmallow off the end of her stick and showing him the perfection of it all before popping it into her own mouth. "Mmm…let me show you how to do it," she said thickly through a mouthful of warm gooeyness.

He glared at her with hurt pride, but he let her hand him a stick with a fresh marshmallow on it.

"Now, hold it over the flames," she instructed. "No, not in the pit of the fire, like this…" She surprisingly placed her hand on his, guiding it to the right position.

Hermione let her hand linger on the spot and neither of the two seemed to mind. She turned to look at him, seeing him staring intently at his marshmallow, not knowing whether it was the heat of the fire making him blush.

She realized that she herself could feel a rosy color forming on her cheeks, so she, too, turned towards the fire, breaking the heavy silence. "It should be about done now," she proclaimed and Draco retracted the rod from the fire.

Hermione pulled the marshmallow off the end of the stick, holding it gingerly in her fingers. "You see, this is the color it is supposed to be," she told Draco, who admired the perfect marshmallow. Hermione broke it in half, showing the white insides of the marshmallow, giving half to Draco.

Somehow, he managed to get this second marshmallow down, but when he did, he was pleasantly surprised. "That's a hell of a lot better than mine," he said thickly through a mouth full of sugary sweetness.

They both laughed together, actually enjoying each other's company whether they wanted to admit it or not. They spent the rest of the night talking very little about Head responsiblilities and a lot more of the sort of things that you might converse about with an old friend. They drank cocoa and roasted marshmallows far into the night, laughing and later watching the flames die out.

"I think I should be getting to bed," Hermione said, letting out a large yawn. She was so comfortable here just sitting in front of the hearth, but she knew she would regret it in the morning.

"I'll help you get everything together," Draco said, taking his hand away from Hermione's, only realizing then that it had been resting on top of hers. Hermione turned away, blushing but pretending to pick everything up, but not refusing his offer.

They climbed the stairs silently, both thinking about the night they spent together until Hermione practically walked headlong into the door marked with 'H.G.'

Draco was the first to speak. "Well, I had a good time…" he trailed off, hoping Hermione could find something better to say.

"Yeah," Hermione responded quickly, anticipating something, though she couldn't figure out what. She felt like she should say something more, do something more, but didn't know what.

"Well, er, maybe we could walk to class tomorrow together or something?" he blurted out, not knowing why he would ask such a thing, just trying to extend the moment because he felt something was missing.

"That would be nice, but wouldn't that attract unwanted attentions?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Hermione yawned again. "I'm tired, so I'm gonna head off to bed. I'll, er, see you in the morning. Maybe we'll just happen to walk to class together anyway." She flashed him a small weary smile and turned to open her door.

"Hermione, wait!"

She spun back around, extremely surprised that he actually used her first name and wondering what was so urgent.

Before she could respond or knew what was happening, she was experiencing the most wonderful sensation, similar to but better than the night in the Hospital Wing. But just as soon as it began, it was over, much to her dismay.

"Goodnight, Hermione," came Draco's voice and he headed down the stairs and towards his own bedroom.

"Goodnight," Hermione breathlessly whispered at his turned back, reluctantly going into her own room.

'o'

Later that night, Draco lay in bed, relishing in the passionate electricity of the kiss that still lingered on his lips, knowing that if he hadn't pulled away, things could have gotten way out of control. Not that he would exactly mind…

He had been so close to telling her, feeling like there was actually someone in this world he could trust. He decided right then and there that he would tell her. When the time came, he would tell her, let her know it all. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Suddenly, there was a tapping on his window from a particularly ugly post owl who wanted to deliver the letter attached to its leg. He unfurled the small roll of parchment, reading the four ominous words etched on the parchments surface:

_Stay away from her._

* * *

A/N: Did you like it? I hope so! Okay, you all know I suck at fluff, so please don't get too mad at me about it!

I wanted to say thanks to these extra superfantabulous reviewers:::

**ragingkitsune**: You can't hide from me! I know your REAL identity!! Muah ha ha!

**crimsonskie**: So sorry the update took so long!

**LadyPaine**: You are so great for always reviewing! I'm soo sorry this took so long and sorry for this cliffhanger! Please forgive me!!

**thebluemarshmallow**: You rock! Specific, longer reviews are what this world needs more of!! I'm glad you like my story!! And yes, the story title is from Maps. Random inspiration. Gotta love it!

Soon, you will all get to find out Draco's secret…But in the meantime, REVIEW!!

Charlotte ;)


	7. Quite the Hostess

A/N: Dun, dun, dun… here it is!!! I probably more excited than you guys!! I love when I update!! :D

Read on…!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Quite the Hostess**

* * *

_Now it's morning,_

_But last night's on my mind._

_There's something I need _

_To get off my chest._

_All Mixed Up, 311_

* * *

Draco read the words again. _Stay away from her._ They made him so angry, so frustrated. Here he was, not even sure yet of how he felt towards her, and someone was trying to tell him what to do. As if they had a right. Especially considering who sent the note. 

His father hadn't even tried to make a point of concealing his identity. The only reason he didn't sign his name was that it wouldn't exactly do to have Draco be getting letters from Azkaban prisoners.

Draco recalled the first and last time he went to visit his father in prison, walking along the rows of dingy cells. He thought of how horrible it would be to falsely convicted and sent here. Many people had been screaming out to his mother and him, groveling and begging for help. His mother had flinched, but Draco had kept a stony expression.

And then they had come upon his father's cell. Lucius Malfoy did not scream or plead or beg; he had just sat on the thick slab of stone along the back wall of his cell. He had stood as they approached, keeping a face as stony as Draco's as his wife let out silent tears as she had looked between the bars at her husband. Draco had remained silent the entire time, staring down his father.

He had been relieved to finally leave Azkaban, to escape the chilling sensation that was draped over the entire island. He knew his father probably deserved what he got, and couldn't even imagine how gaunt his father looked now, if he had managed to keep his sanity. Draco silently cursed his father under his breath for making his mother suffer, for making her spend all these nights alone.

Draco tore the note in half, shooing the owl away. How dare his father do this to him- especially when he himself was rotting away in a prison cell? As if he had any control over Draco… The thought made him laugh. "I'll do whatever I damn well please," he said, as if his father could hear him from thousands of miles away.

Tired from ungodly hour he was now awake at, he drifted off to sleep in his new bed, more confused about his feelings than he was before, if that was possible.

'o'

The next week dragged on, both Draco and Hermione in a daze, both working out their feelings for the other. One night, while they were both studying in the common room together, Hermione almost asked him if he, too, was confused about where they stood, but somehow found herself without the bravery to do it. She really felt that she needed to talk to him, but once the end of the week got underway, she found other thoughts to overpower that one.

The whole school seemed to jitter with the excitement of the arrival of new students. Hermione, too, found herself getting a little nervous for her meeting with Costas, with whom she had been writing back and forth with when she got the chance. She hoped he was as kind and sweet as his letters made him out to be.

That Saturday, everyone rushed to the Great Hall, shoving breakfast down their throats, anxious to greet the Greek students, who were supposed to arrive later that morning. Within the hour, what seemed to be the entire school had gathered at the bottom of Hogwarts's front steps, spilling out onto the front lawn.

Hermione weaved her way through the bustling crowd to find Ginny, Ron, and Harry. "Hey, guys!" She enveloped them all in a big hug. "I haven't seen you guys in a while- I guess I've just been busy."

"Hey, it's okay, Herms," Ginny spoke encouragingly. "Everyone's been so excited all week! I'm just glad to see you. I absolutely can't wait to meet my student!"

"Me either!" Hermione gushed. "Which reminds me, Ron, did you ever find out who you are supposed to host?"

"I guess I'm about to find out," he said, smiling and then pointing skyward.

"Oh, wow," Hermione said breathlessly, following the direction Ron's finger was pointing to the amazing sight that could be seen above the treetops of the Forbidden Forest. As the other students in the crowd noticed, many _oohs_, _ahhs_, and excited whispers could be heard.

Drawing nearer and nearer to the castle could be seen quite a spectacle. About twenty white, winged horses swooped expertly through the air, each carrying a rider. Everyone drew completely silent, in awe of this once-in-a-lifetime sight. Each horse touched down to the ground, clomping along until it slowed to a stop.

An older woman, seemingly the chaperone of the group, slid down gracefully from her majestic winged beast, moving towards the Headmaster with an elderly grace. The students also dismounted, forming a small huddle in front of the beasts, which were now happily munching grass.

Dumbledore had moved to the front to greet the students and their headmistress. "How good to see you again, Aspasia," he said as he took and kissed her hand.

She blushed ever so slightly, responding, "As is it a pleasure to be graced with your presence once again, Albus."

The Headmaster then turned to address the crowd. "After a month of anticipation, we are finally able to meet the exchange students from Greece. I would like to introduce to you Headmistress Aspasia Skandalis and her pupils of the Betagamma Institute for the Magically Inclined." He motioned towards the elderly woman and continued on, "I expect each and every one of you to give all our guests a very warm welcome."

The crowd erupted in to loud clapping, hoots, and hollers, welcoming the new students. Most of the Greek students looked around nervously. Dumbledore started up again, "And now, if everyone would follow me into the Great Hall, we can commence the Welcome Feast." Before the crowd erupted and began to move inside, Dumbledore said, "First though, I ask all prefects, Heads, and our guests to congregate in the small room off of the Hall."

With that last word, everyone began to move, causing Hermione to lose Ginny Ron and Harry. Seeing the unsure students, she decided to go over to them and help them towards the room, seeing as the Professorhead had whisked away their Headmistress. She walked up and introduced herself. "I'm Hermione Granger," she sounded out slowly to the foreigners. "I'm the Head Girl, a leader here at Hogwarts. If you'll all follow me, we can get to the room." She flashed them a big smile and strode towards the school, turning around every now and then to check that they were all still following her.

Finally, everyone had congregated in the small room and Hermione had met up with Ron and Ginny again. "I wonder where Costas is," Hermione whispered to Ginny excitedly, looking for the face that smiled up from the picture Costas gave her as Skandalis took a head count of her students.

As Dumbledore droned on with a short welcoming speech, Ginny whispered, "I think he's over in that corner." She motioned to an unbelievably gorgeous man standing quietly against the wall on the opposite side of the room. He looked up, catching her eye, and gave her a small smile of recognition. She blushed furiously, turning towards Dumbledore, trying not to stare at and drool over the guy she recognized to be her foreign exchange student. _Thank you,_ she thought, glancing heavenward.

"…so, I'll stop blabbing and get on to the good part," Dumbledore said, pulling out a long piece of parchment. "Once, I call your names, you may leave with your partner and begin a tour of the school. Firstly, we have Hermione Granger, who will be hosting Costas Papaconstanzas."

Hermione beamed as she walked towards Dumbledore and she saw Costas do the same. On the way up, she noticed Malfoy snickering in the corner. She glared at him, thinking, _At least he had the decency to show up. But I really don't see what is so hilarious. And after everything that we talked about that night in front of the fire… He's just been acting so weird! I'll have to talk to him about it…_

Suddenly she noticed that she had gotten to the front of the room, contemplative frown on her face. She quickly swapped this with the infectious smile she had caught from Costas's own beaming face. "We go?" he asked, eyebrows cutely furrowed and crook of his arm extended towards Hermione. She gladly linked her arm in his and walked out of the room, cheeks burning.

She made her way to the other side of the Great Hall, passing Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs, all of whom stared. Hermione was thankful to finally sit down on the bench across from Lavender and Neville. Lavender raised her eyebrows in approval, and Hermione introduced Costas to the pair.

"Hermione," he sounded out slowly but correctly. "Such pretty name. Is Greek, you know."

"Really? I didn't know that." She looked into his captivating eyes, so deep, so rich in color. _Snap out of it!_ she scolded herself. "You're pretty fluent in English for someone as new to the language as yourself. I heard it was one of the hardest languages to learn as a second language."

"Well," he said, giving her a shy look, "I practiced very hard for long time."

They eased into a comfortable conversation, Hermione introducing people as they came to the table. After a speech from Dumbledore welcoming the new students, everyone ate lunch, an excited buzz in the air. Costas asked if Hermione would show him around the school and get him familiar with his new surroundings, to which she happily obliged.

Harry, Hermione, Costas, Ron, his student, Nick, Ginny, and her student, Pam, all left the Great Hall together, separating in the Entrance Hall. Ginny was to show Pam around, but they had to go to the Gryffindor common room first to get something. Ron didn't feel like showing Nick around, and Nick didn't really care, which sparked a liking of Nick in Ron. Ron, Nick, and Harry instead went with Ginny and Pam to the common room to teach Nick how to play Wizard's Chess.

So with everyone going towards the Grand Staircase, Hermione decided to show Costas the castle grounds first. They dipped their toes in the lake, walked along the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and visited the greenhouses, all the while talking animatedly. As they exited the greenhouse, Costas said mysteriously, "I have show you something."

"How can you have a surprise for me at the school that I've been going to for seven years?" Hermione asked, with a grin on her face that matched the one on Costas's.

"Just close eyes. I show you the way." He covered her eyes with his hands, walking down the sloping lawns to a destination unknown to Hermione.

_His hands are so soft, and so strong,_ she thought dreamily. Hermione didn't usually like surprises, but she was willing to wait because she thought it was cute how sweet Costas was being to her.

Costas slowed down, whispering in Hermione's ear, "Open your eyes."

Hermione gasped, standing in awe for a few moments before finally speaking. "Oh, Costas, they're beautiful…" she whispered softly, as if afraid talking would ruin the moment and its splendor.

After a few more moments, he asked, "You want to pet them?"

Hermione stared back at the beasts, still in awe. Before, when they had brought the students to Hogwarts, she had known they were beautiful and was amazed at what they could do, but seeing them up close was just so much more overpowering. They gleamed white, making everyone and everything else look drab. "Could I really?"

"Yes," he said, taking her hand in his and placing it onto the back of one of them as he fed it a sugar cube.

"Oh, wow. Costas, this is so amazing," she said, staring kindly into the eyes of the winged horse. "What are they?"

"Is winged horse, the Pegasus. Legend in Greece of Pegasus tamed by goddess Athena, then given to man, who also tamed, but man became too proud. Pegasus flew into sky and Zeus made him a constellation," Costas explained. "Only wizards know that Pegasus still walks earth and are many of them. Very difficult to tame, but very loyal once tamed. Like unicorns, they have a better liking for females."

"Wow…" was all Hermione could say. She just stroked the horse's unbelievably soft coat, hard pressed to find something more amazing than this…

'o'

Draco had finally managed to ditch Artemis. When Dumbledore had called his name to meet the student he was to host, he thought it might actually be someone he could actually relate to. According to Draco, the kid was 'a complete geek.' Draco couldn't stand him. If he had thought meeting him was bad, well, showing him around the school was worse. He was just glad that he wasn't with him now.

Draco sunk back further into his armchair. The day had been surprisingly warm, but once the sun had set, it had gotten pretty cold. As he made a fire in the hearth, Draco was thankful that he was no longer residing in the dungeons.

As he stoked the fire, he thought of Hermione and that Greek bloke of hers. It almost made him sick. _I mean, how seriously can you take someone whose name is as ridiculous as his is?_ he mused, smirking.

The only reason he hadn't gone straight to bed was because he had to stay up. He had to wait for her. He needed to talk. He had made up his mind before, and the only place he felt comfortable enough was here. He was going to pass it up, but then he remembered that there was no reason for him, of all people, to pussyfoot his way around something. Plus, if he didn't do it now, it might become too late.

Draco heard voices, straightening up. The first was hard to understand, but the second one he could tell from anywhere. It was Hermione. His ears prickled, trying to catch each word…

'o'

"I really had a great time, Costas," Hermione beamed up at him outside the sleeping portrait of Glanmore Peakes.

"So I did," the Greek replied. "This is your common room?"

"I'll show it to you if you want…"

"Maybe another time. I don't want to intrude," he replied.

"You're too polite," Hermione teased. "Well, you can come by tomorrow morning and I'll finish showing you around. Thanks for walking me here."

"You're welcome," he said, while on the other side of the portrait Draco was becoming rather nauseated. "Kalinihta, Hermione. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Costas." Hermione reached up and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. He beamed and headed down the hall to his own lodgings.

Hermione sighed, saying the password and walking into the common room, feeling that nothing could ruin her good mood. Then she saw Draco. He was sitting in an armchair, brow furrowed in deep contemplation. He was surprised when she spoke, "I'm sorry if you heard any of that…I…well… Did you have fun with your student?"

He sighed, looking at her for a moment as she sat down in the chair next to him. "Actually, Artemis…well, he's pretty much the worst person I could be put with."

"How do you mean?" she asked softly.

"He just is," he snapped back. Hermione looked shocked and he immediately regretted what he had said. "I mean, I'm sorry, I just… I have to talk to you."

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked it!! We finally get to meet the man: Costas!!!! I love this character. It's so fun to write someone who doesn't speak English! Tell me if you loved it, hated it, whatever you thought! I'm sorry I keep delaying 'the secret', but it'll come in time.

Now to these extrasupercalafragilisticexpealidocius reviewers! (I know I probably spelled it wrong…):::

**Son Christine:** You and your multiple personalities… I must watch the 3rd Inu Movie!!

**fourthiv: **Thanks for the uplifting praise about my fluff! :D It was greatly appreciated.

**Lady Paine:** I'm glad I have you so hooked!! It only gets juicier from here…

Tell me if there are any mistakes with this chapter… I posted it right after I finished it, so there might be some mistakes… All I did was spell check! :D

And for those of you who aren't smarty pants and already figured it out, 'kalinihta' is apparently Greek for goodnight… correct me if I'm wrong!!

Stay tuned… Goodness ahead!

Charlotte ;)


	8. Christmas Surprises

A/N: I suck at summaries, which might be why I've changed it for this story three times and am still not satisfied. XD Sorry 'bout that.

Hope you all like this chapter! I know it's like, "WTF? Why is it Christmas?" It just plays nicely into my story, so DEAL! jk. Read on!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Christmas Surprises**

* * *

_It's the time of the season_

_When love runs high_

_.Time of the Season, Scott Weiland & The Big Blue Missile Band._

* * *

Hermione quietly shut her bedroom door and sat on the corner of her bed. Could all that Draco had just told her be true? She replayed parts of the conversation in her mind. 

_"…I have an, er, incurable disease. It doesn't even have a name, it's so rare. I mean, me, of all people. I probably deserve it, anyway. And, don't worry, I'm not contagious…"_

_"…I require treatment which is really expensive, even for a Malfoy's bank account. Ever since my father went to Azkaban, though, I don't want to take away from the money my father left my mother and I…"_

_"…I told my mother that I was fine- she has enough to trouble her what with her husband in prison…"_

_"…even the most advanced wizard scientists can't find a cure…"_

_"…I don't want you to feel bad for me, I just thought you deserved to know…"_

Not knowing what else to do, Hermione had given Draco the most comforting thing she could think of - a hug. They had then both parted ways towards their own rooms.

Hermione thought about it more as she prepared for bed, but she just couldn't get him off her mind. She felt so included; she was sure that she was one of the only people in Hogwarts who knew. She wanted to reach out to him, to help him, but she knew he would just push her away.

Hermione settled herself between the covers of her bed, completely unsure of what to do…

'o'

Suddenly, Christmas was upon Hogwarts. All of the Greek students were wrapped innumerable layers of clothing, very unused to the bitter cold that whipped around the castle walls.

Hermione and Costas had been spending their days almost completely together lately, showing each other all sorts of wondrous things and filling up with the holiday spirit.

Draco had awoken that morning, forgetting for a moment that it wasn't just any other day. Normally, he would have been waking up in his own four-poster bed at Malfoy Manor, but all student hosts had been forced to stay over break with their Greek students. He had really despised this, since he wanted to know how his mother had been holding up alone in the house for months. Plus, his dull-as-wood hostee, Artemis, was no particular reason to want to stay at school.

He stretched his legs underneath the crème-colored blanket his mother had crocheted for his last birthday, knocking his foot against a box at the foot of his bed he hadn't noticed before. He slowly and carefully tore apart the bright red-and-green wrapping paper, revealing a plain brown cardboard box underneath.

He opened the lid, exposing a small white bottle. It was the medicine for his disease! He was surprised and grateful… But who would send this to him? Not his mother; she had sent him some silk boxers, chocolates, and hair gel. He opened the small white piece of paper that was folded over once to read:

_To Draco:_

_Happy Christmas! Feel better._

_From,_

_Someone who cares_

Draco stared in puzzlement once again at the mysterious note. The wheels in his head spun until, with a yelp of discovery, he figured out whom the present was from. He leaped out of his bed, hurriedly getting dressed to bound out the door and find this mystery person…

'o'

Less than forty feet away, Hermione heard a knock on her door and she called for the person on the otherside to come in. Costas stood in her doorway, looking unfit for the winter with his gleaming tan face smiling at her between a matching hat and scarf. She smiled back, saying, "Just one minute, Costas. I have to brush my hair."

He nodded and sat on the bed, and Hermione went into her bathroom. She found herself unable to stop grinning after seeing Costas. For the past week, they had been acting as though they had been dating for months, seen everywhere together, cuddling and holding hands. For once in her life, she had someone who liked her more than platonically, bushy hair and all. Hermione hated to think that someday soon, this kind and caring person who actually made her feel special would be gone, so she chose instead to think in the present and enjoy the time she had with him.

She ran the brush once more through her almost-straightened locks, sighing happily and exiting the bathroom to head out with Costas. Hogwarts was allowing students a Christmas Hogsmeade trip for the Greek students to see the village in its full holiday splendor. Hermione had promised Costas to give him her own tour of Hogsmeade, hitting only the best eateries and shoppes.

Moments later, they were making their way to the Entrance Hall to be led by various professors to Hogsmeade. The two almost walked around as though nothing could burst the imaginary bubble that had slowly but surely formed around them. Oblivious to the rest of the world, they did not notice the two separate people who kept their unwavering stares on them…

'o'

A few hours later, Hermione and Costas were window-shopping when Hermione gasped excitedly and ducked into a small souvenir shoppe called Hogsmeade Treasures. Costas warily followed her through the unsteady-looking shelves.

She finally stopped, saying, "I have got the _perfect_ present for you. And, it's cheap, since I don't have much money left. I spent loads of it on one of my, er, family members," she explained.

"Hermione, you don't need to get me something. Being with you is enough," Costas said sweetly, his English obviously improved since they had first met.

"But I want to. And hopefully, it'll be the perfect thing for you to remember me and your stay here at Hogwarts by. Now, go wait outside while I buy it for you."

"If you insist," he said, reluctantly stalking his tall figure out of the shoppe.

Moments later, she walked out of the shoppe, brown bag in hand. "This," she proclaimed as she reached a mittened hand into the bag, "is for you."

Standing upon her outstretched palm was a small snow globe displaying the letters "Happy Holidays from Hogsmeade" across the base. Inside, miniscule flakes of snow fell upon moving figures that window-shopped along the replica of Hogsmeade's snowy streets.

"Oh, Hermione," Costas beamed at her. "How perfect."

The next thing she knew, he had enveloped her in a passionate kiss. Snowflakes fell on their closed lids and everything about the moment seemed perfect. Reluctantly, the kiss was broken and they each took a moment to stare into the eyes of the other.

Suddenly, Hermione was painfully aware of the whispering passers-by and her cheeks flushed bright red. "That was lovely and all, Costas," she said, "but let's not try for any more PDA's."

"PDA?" he questioned, eyebrows furrowed.

"Public Displays of Affection. Like, no making out in front of a bunch of people."

"Oh! I get it now," Costas said in sparked realization, letting go of Hermione's hand.

She looped her own right back through it, explaining, "We can still hold hands, though." He beamed at her, and they walked off towards The Three Broomsticks at the end of the road.

What neither of them noticed, though, was a certain redheaded somebody standing across the lane, scattered bag of Bertie Bott's at his feet. His mouth was hung open in utter disbelief, but as soon as he snapped out of it, he gripped tightly his bag of purchases and made a mad dash towards Hogwarts castle.

'o'

As they entered the crowded shoppe, Hermione and Costas both noticed many familiar faces scattered throughout the patrons of The Three Broomsticks. Hermione led Costas past Ginny and her Greek student, Pam, who were sitting with Michael Corner and his student, Owen, to a table in the back. Hermione had waved at Ginny, but noticed that she and Owen were practically ogling each other and decided not to interrupt.

The pair was promptly confronted by a small, curly haired witch who asked to take their order. As they waited for their coffees to arrive, Hermione was distracted by an uproar from a crowded table not too far from theirs. Padma, Parvati, and their Greek students, Lydia and Theo, were in tears laughing at some joke Anthony Goldstein and his student, Phil, had just told. "What do you suppose is so funny?" she mused aloud.

"Oh, what does it matter?" Costas said, regaining her attention and placing his hand upon hers. "I am here with you."

"Tell me, Costas, how did you become so sweet?"

"I was born of the sugar cane," he joked.

She laughed melodically, adding, "And funny, too. Corny, but still sweet." She snorted at her own joke, immediately embarrassed. At the sight of Costas' warm smile, the redness quickly subsided from her cheeks just at their drinks arrived.

After thanking the waitress and removing the lid to let it cool, she let her eyes once again roam the room, resting them on a familiar blonde head.

Almost sensing her gaze, Draco lifted his head to stare back at Hermione with a look of helplessness in his eyes. She looked at the two boys sitting across from him who seemed to be having an extremely heated discussion. She returned her gaze to Costas, motioning towards Draco's companions, saying, "Can you help me out with something for a second?"

He agreed and they brought their drinks to they boys table to find Nick, the student Ron was supposed to be hosting, and Artemis, Draco's student, ranting wildly in Greek. Costas sat down to make peace between the two and Hermione sat next to Draco.

"What happened?" she asked Draco.

"I don't really know. This other one," he said, pointing towards Nick, "just showed up and started following me around with Artemis. I came in here and we were all just sitting down and then all of the sudden, they start flipping out and I can't understand a word of it. It's been going on for about fifteen minutes."

Hermione suppressed a laugh, saying, "Well, you can just hang out with us for the rest of the time. In fact," she said, glancing at her watch, "we should probably be heading back to the castle." She stood up, asking Costas if he was ready.

Draco opened his mouth to tell Hermione something, but Costas spoke first, "I've broken them up, but they're still pretty mad. We ought to keep them separate." Draco and Hermione nodded at Costas' instruction and the five put their coats on and trudged back towards the castle.

'o'

After Hermione and Costas had parted ways with the other three boys and then parted ways themselves, Hermione roamed around the close-to-empty school, losing herself in her thoughts and the Christmas spirit. Before she knew where she was, she found herself outside of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She heard sobbing coming from inside and was about to ignore it until she realized it wasn't actually Myrtle. Hermione had definitely heard the ghost's cries enough to realize when it was and wasn't her.

She stepped cautiously into the bathroom to investigate. The closer she got to the sobbing, the more she realized that it wasn't even female. She wondered what small boy had gotten so confused in his flurry of despair that he had roamed into a girls' room. When she reached the last stall from which she had deduced the crying came from, she slowly pushed it open and the weeping subsided a bit.

Upon the student looking up at her, Hermione was immensely surprised to see it was Ron. In all the years she had known him, she had seen him fume with anger, but never once had she seen him cry. Ron just struck her more as the type who would act out in anger than actually break down and cry.

Ron roughly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Was I so loud that you could hear me from outside?" he slurred with a lopsided smile.

Hermione noticed a small clear bottle of amber liquid at Ron's feet. "Oh, Ron," she said, clearly disappointed with her friend. But she knew there would be time for that later- right now, Ron needed her help. "Come on, I'll take you upstairs," she said softly, reaching to help Ron off the toilet. As she leaned in closer to him, the bitter smell of alcohol on his breath stung her nose, almost making her gag.

"No," he said, pushing her arm away. "Just leave me here. You've already done enough," he spat, a hint of malice in his voice.

Hermione's patience was wearing thin, but she managed to ignore the comment. "Ron, we can talk about it once I get you to your room. Let's just go," she urged trying once again to help him up.

"I said, get off of me!" he yelled, shoving her arm away again, more forcefully this time. "Go get it on with that Greek stud of yours or something."

"That's what this is all about?!" Hermione shrieked in disbelief. "You got yourself piss-drunk just because you don't like it that we're together?! I can't believe you!" Silently, she tried to calm herself down, telling herself that he wasn't in a right state. "Look, the most important thing to do right now is get you to bed."

"For the last goddamn time," he slurred, getting up off the toilet seat to stand on wobbly feet, "I'm staying here." He made to pick up once again the bottle that lay on the floor.

But Hermione got there first, her anger refueled. "If you're going to stay here, then you won't be having any more of this," she spat, pouring the bottle's remaining contents into the recently vacated toilet.

She didn't even have time to smile triumphantly before Ron had smacked her down onto the hard, tile floor. "What was that for?!" he screamed in her face. "You know I don't fucking have any money!"

Hermione rubbed her sore backside, wincing at what she knew was going to be a bruise tomorrow. She stood up, seething back at him, "Exactly the reason you shouldn't be wasting it on that foul, nasty drink! Look at you! Crying and beating up one of your best friends all because of a few too many ounces of that crap!"

"Shut up…" he whimpered, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor, beginning to cry again. "You don't know anything about what's going on with me."

Hermione calmed down, feeling extreme pity for him, even though he had just struck her down. She kneeled down, sitting on her heels beside him. "That's because you don't tell me," she whispered sympathetically to Ron.

Just as soon as he had sat down, he shot up again, towering over her. "Because you're always with that Greek fucker! And if you're not with him, you're with that disgusting Slytherin prat!"

Before Hermione could get out the words "How did Malfoy get dragged into this?", Ron had slapped her across the face. Hard. She grabbed her stinging cheek, seeing him lift his arm again out of the corner of her eye. She cowered beneath him, shielding her face with her hands, waiting for him to deliver his next crushing blow…

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter has taken a somewhat darker turn, but it's all in the storyline. Ron is one of my favorite characters (second only to Draco) so it was way hard to make him so mean. But for all of you who forgot about him in this story, he just came back to bite you in the ass! Never underestimate the Ron. 

Tell me if you totally hate it, though. I want to know these things! Seriously though, folks. Review.

And now comes the fun part- my uber-reviewers! You all get a box of Frosted Flakes for being so grrrrrrrrrrrreat!

**Son Christine: **I haven't seen you lately! L Call me or something… And, btw, any Potter fan (cough, cough, NOT YOU) would know that HERMS is a commonly used nickname for Hermione and NOT an STD!!!

**fourthiv**: Huge problems is what this story is all about. J

**SlytherinPixie**: Thanks for the ego boost! I'll try to keep it under control. Thanks for tuning into this story!

**ellen2321**: Bing bong bing bong! You got it! Hermione's such a player…. As far as who's the 'bad guy' and how this story's gonna turn out… well, you'll just have to keep on reading.

**slytherin-kittycat**: Wheee! Here's the update!

**Lady Paine**: Tee hee. The conversation did turn out very interesting, no?

You guys rock! Review again!

Charlotte ;)


	9. Ballerinas in Boxes

* * *

**Chapter 9: Ballerinas In Boxes**

* * *

_You tried to fill some emptiness_

_'Til all you had spilled over_

_Now everything's so far away_

_That you don't know where you are_

_Hold On, Jet_

* * *

Hermione counted the seconds before she was hit again. She finally heard a dull thud, but she felt no pain. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing Draco standing over Ron's motionless form. Draco was breathing heavily, holding his fist with his other hand, eyes livid. He shifted his gaze over to her as she softly questioned, "Draco?"

He regained his composure, shaking his head and saying, "I heard you, screaming, from out in the hall." His voice shook a bit as he ran his hands through his slick, blonde hair. Hermione's face turned a light shade of pink, embarrassed that he had to help her and see her like this. She hated to play the victim.

They both looked at Ron, silently agreeing to drag him up to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione had forgotten, due to her complete shock at Ron's drunken state, that she was a witch and had full use of her wand. She muttered, "Mobilicorpus," and Ron's body rose gently into the air, as if help up by strings. As they strode out of the bathroom, Hermione caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror over one of the sinks. Tear-stained cheeks and unruly hair distorted her look. _I'm a mess,_ she thought. _I can't believe Draco's seeing me like this._

She cast a look at Draco only to find him staring back. She saw emotion in his eyes as she held his gaze- she couldn't quite tell what it was. Longing? Hurt? Rage? She wanted to know, wanted to help him.

"Draco, I-well, thank you for, you know, saving me."

He was surprised she had wanted to talk, and so took a moment before answering, "I kind of had to."

Hermione didn't push it. She knew what he was trying to say-it was just his masculinity and testosterone getting in the way. "Well," she said with a knowing smile, "thanks, anyway."

Before they knew it, they were at the entrance of the Gryffindor common room. Draco held the portrait open as Hermione brought Ron in. She slowly and gently lay his limp form on one of the couches, taking one last pitiful look at him before turning on her heel and walking back through the portrait. She was surprised to find Draco still outside.

"I thought you would have left by now," she speculated.

"Well, we wouldn't want you to get beat up by any other drunk, wannabe loverboys, now, would we?" he said, only to find that it sounded more protective than the snide tone Draco had intended.

Hermione just smiled as they walked a while longer in silence, not at a particularly hurrying pace. She was surprised that after her startling experience, she managed to be so at ease, with Draco nonetheless. Or was it Draco that put her so at ease?

"So," Hermione finally broke the silence, "it's been some Christmas, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was sure a hell of a lot more exciting than any Christmas at Malfoy Manor."

Almost halfway to their common room, silence filled the air again. Hermione found herself rethinking every attempt at more conversation that she intended to make. _Why is this so hard? It seems like there is so much he already has told me and even more that he hasn't. What happened to the obnoxious prat we all used to hate?_ Hermione mused to herself.

They had finally reached their common room, weary from an exceptionally interesting day. Both were surprised to see that it was still decorated with untouched Christmas decorations, great big evergreen tree in the corner and all. They both stood in silence, taking in their surroundings and marveling at the fact that it was the most un-Christmas-like Christmas either of them had ever had.

"Granger," Draco said as he thought of something he had been meaning to say to her.

Hermione turned her attentions towards him. "What is it, Draco?"

"I, er, thanks."

Hermione shot him a confused look. "Thanks? What are you thanking me f-" She paused mid-sentence, realizing he was talking about her present to him. "Oh. You're welcome."

"So, anyway, I, er, wanted to give you this," he said, thrusting a package towards her. She looked up at him, almost not daring to take it. He looked back at her expectantly, and so she accepted the package and proceeded to orderly unfold the wrapping paper surrounding the gift.

"I wonder what it is," she mused out loud as she painstakingly removed the paper. She finally tore back the last remaining piece to reveal a silver box with two small drawers. Hermione gasped, marveling at its simplistic beauty. She opened the two drawers to find them lined with plush, deep green velveteen and opened the lid to a more spectacular sight. Inside, a miniature, silver-costumed ballerina gracefully danced on a small stage. "Oh, Draco, its so beautiful," Hermione said in what was barely a whisper. She looked up at him and she could've sworn that, for a moment, she saw a glimpse of satisfaction.

He broke her gaze saying, "Yeah, well, again, I kinda had to-" Draco was cut short by Hermione. Well, really by Hermione's lips. Without noticing it, he enjoyed it for a long moment before breaking the kiss to ask, "And that was for…?"

She pointed up towards the ceiling. "Happy Christmas, Draco," she said before bounding up the stairs to her own room.

"Happy Christmas…Hermione," he called softly to her back. Draco looked up to find something floating above his head. Mistletoe. Figures. Only, he could've sworn it wasn't there before…

'o'

Hermione slept soundly that night, with more than interesting dreams. She stretched out, eyes roving over the litter of wrapping paper and boxes she hadn't bothered to clean up from last night. And she sure as hell didn't feel like cleaning it up now. Her eyes caught the gleam of the silver box she had gotten last night. She smiled, remembering their exchange.

She hopped out of bed, shuffling towards the bathroom and reaching for her toothbrush. Squeezing some minty freshness onto her brush, Hermione thought about the events of the previous day. She didn't know whether or not to talk to Ron. Would he pretend like it never happened, be angry with her, apologize? Nothing like this had ever happened inside the Golden Trio. She just didn't know what to think.

Hermione checked the watch lying by the side of the sink. 6:45. That was more than enough time to get ready for her first class. Lazily, she proceeded to go about the rest of her morning routine.

'o'

About 45 minutes later, she came down the stairs, smiling to see that no one had removed the Christmas decorations yet. As she bent down to pick up her school books, she heard Draco's footsteps descending the stone steps. She walked over to where he stood, gushing out rather quickly, "Draco! Can I ask you a question?"

"Good morning to you, too, Granger," Draco said, yawning and strategically rumpling his blonde locks.

"I'm serious," she said, with a small smile.

"As am I." She gave him a more than skeptical look. "What?!" he exclaimed. "Oh, alright. Shoot."

"Okay," she began. "I can't believe I'm asking this from YOU of all people-"

"What so bad about me?!"

"Oh, nevermind! Just let me finish." He rolled his eyes, but remained silent. She began again, "I just wanted to know what I should do, about, you know, the situation from last night." She let out a deep breath, looking expectantly at him.

"I, well, I don't know!" Her eyes pleaded with him, which unfortunately began to turn him on instead of making him think harder. _Stupid Draco! Think of something unsexy… Like Professor Sprout in lingerie…_

"Draco, are you okay? You look sick!" Hermione questioned worriedly, her mind immediately flashed back to her first detention with him.

"What?" he said, as though snapping out of a trance. "No, I'm fine." He noticed the immense concern in her eyes, saying, "I promise."

"Okay," she said, glancing at her watch. "Shit! I have to get to class. Well, Draco, I'll see you-what? What's so funny?"

When he was able to calm down enough to speak, "Granger! Swearing! End! Of! World!"

"Oh, shut up, Draco," she said with a small smile, taking it only as it was meant - a joke. "I'll see you later…" she trailed off, grabbing her cloak and heading for the portrait hole.

'o'

She strode down the hall, realizing too late that she had forgotten to ask Draco for advice. She sighed, making her way down towards the Greek students' lodgings, hoping to walk with Costas to class.

Hermione came to the entrance hall, spotting the hunk himself in the doorway to the lawns. She waved at him, big smile on her face. Strangely, he didn't wave back. _He mustn't have seen me,_ she reassured herself. He turned away from her, glancing out over the lawns. Hermione took this opportunity to place her hands over his eyes from behind.

Before she could say, "Guess who?", he had forcefully brought her arms down. She stared back at him in disbelief. "Costas?"

"What?" he spat out acidly, whipping around to face her.

Hermione was too weirded out. This was not her Costas, the playful, sweet Costas full of life. This Costas had vacant eyes, and had seemingly turned bitter overnight. She somehow enabled herself to maintain a certain resolve, saying, "We have to get to class. It's Herbology," she said, wrapping her cloak tightly around herself. She stepped past him, out into the biting cold of the December morning.

"Hermione!" What sounded like the Costas she knew and loved called out to her. She walked quickly back up the steps. She was still all too weirded out by this whole situation, but more than happy to get the old Costas back.

He spoke again. "Vacation means no class," he said to her, as if she were a small, unknowing child.

She mentally slapped herself, realizing that Costas was all too right. "I am such an idiot…" she mumbled, hanging her head in mock shame. "Well, we may as well have breakfast, anyway."

"Whatever Hermione says," Costas said, smiling and kissing her neck, following her towards the Great Hall.

'o'

"Want to go for a walk?" Costas asked Hermione after they had returned her unneeded books to the common room she shared with Draco.

"It's a little cold, but I guess I don't see why not," she replied, linking her arm in his and resting her head on his inviting shoulder.

Within a few minutes, they were walking along the shores of the large lake, faces turned towards the weak winter afternoon sun, talking about any random thing that popped into their heads.

From far, far, above, someone watched their progress from the window of the Owlery. Carefully avoiding any owl droppings that were scattered about the floor, Draco had noticed the bushy head of hair that was undoubtedly Hermione's along with the bundled Greek that was undoubtedly Costas. He probably was supposed to spend the day with Artemis, but Draco swore that he would not spend one unnecessary moment with his charge.

His eyes followed them across the sloping, frosted lawns of Hogwarts towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He watched them talk, Hermione waving her arms animatedly and Costas unmoving. He saw the Greek grab her arms, twisting them into what seemed, even from yards away, to be a painful position. _I didn't think I'd have to play Superman twice in two days, _Draco thought as he rushed from his position at the Owlery window, thundering down the many steps to the Entrance Hall more than eight stories below.

'o'

"Costas! What are you doing to me?!" Hermione screeched out in pain as he held his steadfast grip on her arms. Much to Hermione's despair, ignoring his strange state from before had not kept him from lapsing into it once again.

He stared back at her with those same vacant eyes that Hermione had feared so much, saying in a monotonous tone, "You will come with me." He tightened his grip on her again, causing her to scream even louder in pain.

"Please, Costas," she pleaded in a whimper. "Let me go." With consent, he loosened his grip slightly. Hermione took the opportunity to whip her wand out of her pocket and step back, threatening him with the tip of her wand. "Make one more move and you'll regret it," she said as fearfully as she could manage. He responded only with vacant eyes.

"Costas, I don't want to hurt you. You're not right - what has happened to you?" He responded only with another attempt to overpower her. Without enough time to utter a spell, she flipped her wand around, jabbing Costas in the eye with its blunt end. He cowered, falling back into the hard ground and clutching his hurt eye. Hermione took this opportunity to make a run for it.

As she sprinted forward, all focuses on getting to the front door of the castle, she didn't notice Costas running behind her until she had to pause to open the heavy wooden door. She tried to shut it on him, but it was too immense to be maneuvered quickly. She ran into the Entrance Hall, shooting a red jet of light over her shoulder. She heard her Stunning Spell hit Costas with a satisfying thud, but she didn't dare to stop running. Just when she thought she couldn't run any longer, Hermione ran head long into Draco as she was exiting the Entrance Hall.

He lightly gripped her shoulders, asking, "Hermione! What's the matter?"

She hadn't even noticed that she had had tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Draco," she said, burying her head into his chest.

"C'mon, let's just go up to the common room," he said, draping an arm around her shoulder and leading her slowly up the many flights of stairs to the room. They remained silent until he led her through the portrait and onto one of the large couches in front of the fireplace.

Hermione looked up at Draco with a weak smile on her face before her eyelids slowly closed and she drifted off to sleep.

'o'

Hours later, she was gently awoken by the soft, warm aroma of French vanilla tea. She opened her eyes to see Draco quietly scribbling on a piece of parchment, eyes darting back and forth between text and scroll. When he reached out to take a sip of his own mug, he looked to Hermione and realized she was awake. He got up and went to give her her tea. She propped herself up on her elbow, moving to an upright position. She gladly accepted her tea, sipping it gratefully.

Draco was the first to speak, saying, "Feeling better?"

"Much," she replied. A moment of silence passed as they drank, feeling the warmth of the ever-crackling fire. "Draco, I… I just wanted you to know how thankful I am that at least someone is there for me. Between all the people I thought I was close to, no one ever is. One of them is off with his girlfriend only-God-knows-where, one of them still hasn't apologized for practically beating me under the influence, and one of them," she paused to sniffle and wipe away the lone tear sliding silently down her cheek, "one of them isn't even himself anymore." Hermione paused again to regain her composure. "I mean, I guess it's kind of weird, but I feel most of the time that I can only seriously talk to guys, but it's just like all of the sudden they want nothing to do with me. I just don't know what to do."

"Granger, I guess it's also kind of weird, but if we happen to be in the common room at the same time, and you're feeling down, I guess you can talk to me…if you need to," Draco replied, hoping to somehow comfort her.

"Thanks," she said, meaning every letter. "To think that we would be actually talking civilly after all of these years of hostility… It's amazing." She placed her head on his chest, seeing how he would react. He did nothing to stop her.

They remained quiet for a few more minutes, feeling drowsier with each tick of the second hand, despite the caffeine boost they had gotten from the tea.

Hermione had one last thought lingering on her mind before she drifted off, and so she asked him, "Before, in the Entrance Hall, did you by chance call me…Hermione?" But she got no response, save his steady, even breathing beside her on the couch.

* * *

A/N: Review! You know you want to! And don't worry…there's PLENTY more to come. I am sooo immensely sorry that it took so incredibly long. I hope you know that I will most likely fail both my Pre-Cal and Modern World tests tomorrow because I stayed up to write this. Be thankful, fools! Just kidding. But please, review and tell me what you thought!

And now, my favorite time, which is thanking all you great people who had the decency to review!

**ellen2321**: I love Ron, too! He'll come up in the next chapter, don't worry. Ohh… this should be good, seeing how Hermione deals with him and all… :)

**fourthiv**: Yes, I know, the complicated twirling of the plot is so great! I'm surprised I don't watch more soap operas… FanFictions will do just fine, though! :D

**SonChristine**: One word: Inufestage! But really, you rock for reviewing every chapter when you totally don't need to! Unlike :cough Michelle cough: SOME people…

**bonessasan**: Stay tuned. It only gets more unexpected and better!

**Pixie-Poison**: Draco, is OFCOURSEIVELY hot, and Costas is DEFinitely meant to sound that way. :D

**shanmo**: Keep reviewing! You rock!

I also wanted to let you guys know, if you didn't already, that I have started a C2 Community entirely based on Draco/Hermione FanFictions…you might want to check it out!

Until next time,

Charlotte ;)


	10. Inter House Unity

Finally! Double digits! :D

_Check out my Fantastic Dramione C2. You won't regret it! :D Contact me if you're interested in being a staff member._

* * *

**Chapter 10: Inter-House Unity**

* * *

_You are my knight._

_Cure and assure_

_And make me feel alright._

_Heartbreaker, The Cardigans_

* * *

Hermione stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were slightly baggy from lack of sleep, her cheeks slightly sunken from her loss of appetite. She looked pretty bad. And her hair being held in a ponytail exaggerated these features. She viciously tugged the elastic out of her hair, letting it messily fall over her shoulders. She placed her hands on her face, running them through her hair, getting them caught on all the little snarls that her hair had formed. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

Hermione was at a huge loss of what to do, how to react to Ron. She also didn't quite know how she should talk to Draco. She appreciated him being there so much. She felt as though they shared something deeper than any acquaintance or friendship, as if they had known each other longer than they had been living. She greatly enjoyed their talking, but she still hadn't managed to get advice out of him. Now she was left to face Ron completely unarmed.

Giving the best smile she could manage, she headed out of her room a little bit unsteadily, off to face the day and whatever it held.

'o'

Any passerby might believe that the red head craning low over the Gryffindor table might be sleeping, or maybe cramming last minute for an exam. What no one would have guessed is that this person was agonizing greatly over what he should do in the coming moments as students began to file into the Great Hall for breakfast.

Ron had hardly slept last night, the truth and reality of all he had done finally settling in. He had heard people say that you never remembered what you did because you were too drunk. Unfortunately for him, this was definitely not true.

Sure, you forget for about a day, but when you are least expecting it, powerful memories hit you head-on. And it hurts. Ron supposed though, that he deserved this pain, in addition to the pain from the massive headache and all around nauseated feeling he had gotten the morning after. He had never meant to hurt Hermione, but, of course, he was the stupid one who had gone and gotten himself drunk.

He wasn't an alcoholic or anything, though he supposed that's what everyone would be gossiping about. He had drunk champagne at New Year's since he was thirteen and had sipped at a bottle of Fire Whiskey secretly with Fred and George on his last birthday, but only enough to make him feel flushed. The truth was that this time he had some of the bitterly alcoholic drink left over from his last birthday stashed away in the bottom of his trunk. He had only taken it out once before, when Harry had made a great Quidditch win, but none of them had had enough to get completely smashed. All normal teenage male behavior.

But when he had seen them kiss, it had been the last straw. He couldn't take it anymore. He had gotten so upset. He had run up to the common room, intent on staying locked up there alone to wallow in his misery. He had reached into his trunk, looking for the picture that he so cherished of the two of them. Hermione was squeezing Ron tightly in the picture and both had big smiles on their faces, undeniably content. Ron couldn't even count the times he had wished that this had been real life.

All he had meant to do was stare for hours at this picture, thinking of Hermione. That was when his hand brushed against the cool glass of the bottle. Slowly, he fingered the bottle, contemplating whether he dared to take it out. Without realizing it, he suddenly held the bottle in his hands, staring at the way the light made the Fire Whiskey glimmer. He uncorked the bottle, letting the amber liquid flow quickly over his tounge, and he swallowed it quickly, painfully remembering how much it burns all the way down.

It was painful even for Ron to remember. He remembered, wincing, how he had even dared to lay a hand on Hermione. If he truly loved her, well, he sure as hell wouldn't have done that to her. He was one of her best friends; he needed to be there for her and realize that it would be better to have her happy than to selfishly fulfill his own dreams. Plus, he'd rather stay friends with her than bitterly end the years they had spent as friend. He sighed deeply, looking up to find Harry sitting across the table from him.

"Hey, mate. You look beat," Harry commented as he reached for some pumpkin juice.

"I haven't been able to sleep." _Ooh, bad move, Ron. Now's definitely not the time to tell Harry._ Ron hadn't wanted to talk about it to anyone, much less admit his crimes to Harry. To actually put it into words would be final, a sure thing. And he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, shaking his head to get his bangs out of his eyes and at the same time giving Ron an inquisitive look.

"Ah…nothing. Nevermind." He hoped Harry wouldn't push it.

He didn't. "If you say so." Harry just figured he'd find out sooner or later, from Ginny if he had to. Anyways, Harry was happy to talk about his own problems. "But, er, I was wondering if I could get some advice from you."

"About what? Girls?" Ron snorted about the irony in that statement.

"Well, kind of. Things kind of, well, haven't been working out with Cho…"

"Let me guess. You're not feeling the same way as you used to about her, and think it would be better if you guys were friends."

"…Wow. Yeah. But the thing is, I don't want to…"

"…break up with her, I know. It's okay, though. She's got her sights set somewhere else. Or rather, on someone else. Macmillian. Can you believe it? Well, anyways, it's okay, because we all know you like Ginny." Ron paused, nervously shoving a hunk of bread into his mouth while Harry stared back at him, completely speechless. "And don't worry. She's always liked you back, how ever hard-to-get she may play."

After about three minutes, all Harry was able to say was "Damn…" He was, to sum it up, amazed.

'o'

Hermione took her time walking down the stairs, through the halls, down the Great Staircase, taking the longest route possible to the Great Hall. She knew, however much she dreaded it, that she must go, and at one point or another she would have to face Ron. There was just no getting around it. Cursing under her breath, she put one foot in front of the other, just enough to move ahead.

Far too soon for her own preference, she approached the Entrance Hall. As she turned the corner into the Hall, she took a deep breath, leaning against the stone wall for support. _How could he do this? I'm just so…_ She didn't even know how to finish that thought, she slid down the wall into a sitting position, legs straight out in front of her. She felt so drained, completely not up to having what she feared would be a heated argument with Ron.

Drowned in her thoughts, she was oblivious to the world, almost forgetting where she was supposed to be. That is, until a very familiar someone tripped on her outstretched legs and went flying head first towards the ground. Just at the last minute, thankfully, he was able to recompose himself and keep himself from complete humiliation. Hermione almost laughed, but didn't dare face the consequences. Instead she asked, "Draco, are you okay?"

He brushed off his pants and arms, saying in an offhand way as he could manage, "Oh, fine. You should watch where you're putting those feet." He gave her a small smile to show he was kidding.

As if she had just stepped through a waterfall, her troubles seemed to dissolve for the moment all around her. She got to her feet as she found herself thinking, _How weird is it that the guy I counted on for snide remarks is now someone who I can count on to cheer me up? You've got to wonder if the world's coming to an end or something…_

Draco snapped her back to reality. "But I've got to wonder what exactly you were doing sitting right outside the Great Hall…"

"To tell you the truth," she admitted, "I'm actually contemplating whether or not to go in. You know, _he_ could be in there." Her expression slowly became somber again. "I just really don't think I can't face him."

"Chicken," Draco teased.

She punched him in the arm, saying, "You wish. I just need more time, you know?"

"Well," Draco said, sticking his head into the Great Hall and then coming back to face Hermione, "I can tell you that Dead Man Walking is most definitely there. It's just a little hard to miss that hair, if you get what I'm saying."

She couldn't help but smile, however small it was. Soon, though, it faded from her face, as she came closer to the reality of facing Ron.

Draco ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think of a way to save her. Something in is mind must have clicked, because his face light up slightly as he blurted out, "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you come sit at the Slytherin table?"

"Oh, Draco, I don't know…"

"C'mon! What have you got to lose?" He looked into her eyes, hoping to see some spark of desire to join him. "Plus," he added quickly, "you're the one who's always promoting inter-house unity or whatever… Just come."

With only a bit of feigned reluctance, she held out her hand, saying, "Lead the way."

He grabbed her outstretched hand, slithering through the tables all the way over to the right where the green-and-silver decked table stood. They sat near the end of the table, Hermione grateful to have her back to Ron and food in front of her face. Only upon seeing the vast amounts of food on the table did she painfully remember how famished she was.

Draco watched her dig into the plate she had heaped with almost every kind of food on the table, happy to see that she was for once not completely worried about something or other. Unlike Hermione, he had a clear view of the Gryffindor table, and caught a glimpse of Ron, turned in his chair looking longingly at Hermione and spitefully at Draco. He watched Harry and Ron bend their heads low in conversation, thinking of how much he would have liked to go over there and pound their heads together.

'o'

When it seemed as thought there was nothing left at the table for Hermione to eat, Draco ventured, "You look just about full."

She laughed, a little embarrassed as she realized how much she had just eaten. "I haven't had much of an appetite lately. I guess I was hungrier than I thought."

"You wanna head back to the common room?" Draco asked, sensing that Hermione didn't want to be near people, but probably didn't want to be alone either. She nodded quickly and they both got up from the table, ignoring the glares from the other Slytherins who had removed themselves as far as possible away from the pair.

With each step closer to the door, Hermione thanked the gods that she wouldn't have to confront Ron today, or at least until she got hungry. But she thanked too soon.

Ron stood in the doorway to the Great Hall, looking as remorseful as Hermione had ever seen him. "Hermione-" he began, only to be cut off.

"Look, Ron," she said, trying to maintain her cool, "I am sure-or at least I hope-that you are sorry, but I'm not going to be able to forgive you right now or even talk about it."

"Well, when, then?" he asked, almost impatiently.

"When, she's ready," Draco butted in, angry enough to punch Ron's face in.

"Who asked you, Blondie?" Ron retorted, just as indignant.

Hermione placed a hand on Draco's chest, saying, "Not this. Not now. Don't you guys dare fight over me. I'm not going to have this be more complicated than it already is." She turned to Ron, saying as warmly as she could manage, "I'll let you know when I'm ready to talk to you." With that, she strode out of the hall in the direction of her dormitories.

Draco hurried off to follow her, but not without Ron's commentary. "So, you're her bitch now, too?" Draco almost walked away, as Hermione had asked them not to fight. Almost. He stopped dead in his tracks, and then whirled around to sock Ron one big, fat punch, right in the nose.

As Ron cowered in pain and agony on the floor, Draco replied, "Oh, I wouldn't say 'bitch'. More like friend, since you seemed to have abandoned the position." With his trademark smirk, he strode after Hermione, only half aware that he had just admitted to about a quarter of the students and staff that he was, in fact, friends with Hermione Granger. Or even, he silently hoped, more than that…

* * *

Thanks to: **slytherin-kittycat, SonChristine, SlytherinPixie, fouthiv, ellen2321, bonessasan, Autum Wind, **and **shanmo. **You guys rock! :D

I know! I'm sorry! Don't kill me! I don't know how I let myself go this long without updating. And even at that, this chapter is still on the short side…Thanks to all who stay tuned despite my laziness/writer's blocks/loss of sense of time. :D

And, no, I haven't forgotten about Costas. ;)

Until next time,

Charlotte ;)


	11. Running Out

_I know. FINALLY. :P_

_Check out my Fantastic Dramione C2. You won't regret it! :D Contact me if you're interested in being a staff member._

* * *

**Chapter 11: Running Out**

* * *

_I came here with a load_

_And it feels so much lighter since I met you_

_Honey, you should know_

_That I could never go on without you_

_Green Eyes, Coldplay_

* * *

Draco woke up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Sharp pains in his temples told him he was enduring one of the most excruciating headaches he had ever experienced. It had been a week, Christmas vacation was over, and all the students were back. He really wished that they hadn't come back; it meant that he had had less time to talk to Hermione, to tell her some things he was dying to get off of his chest.

He didn't want to overwhelm her, though. What with her problems with both Ron and Costas, he was in no position to be dumping more problems on her. He didn't have the heart. The few smiles that broke through on her face were those to be cherished. And he did cherish them.

Draco knew that they had at least developed a mutual friendship. But he wasn't out to be another one of her best friends and make it the Golden Quadruple. He shuddered at the thought. He and Hermione shared something unique, both in the sense that not many other people shared the same bond that they did, and in that they were able to confide in each other as they did with no one else.

His head began to throb again, and he rolled over onto his stomach with a groan, fumbling around his nightstand. He finally grasped what he was searching for, and he sat up as he opened the white plastic bottle. He fished out an aspirin, replacing the cap and putting the bottle back on the table to his side. Draco placed the bottle down again, reaching for a glass of water to swallow the little white pill down with.

Mid-gulp, a sharp knock startled Draco, almost making him spit out the contents of his mouth all over his bedcover. He recovered, swallowing the water and pill, to see an owl stood at his window, looking rather ruffled and impatient. Draco swung open the window, letting in a blast of cool air, to relieve the creature of it burden. His eyes scanned the wrinkled page; he had to read it twice to believe what was scribbled hastily on the parchment.

_This is the only time I've had to write since my last letter. I daresay you were displeased with its contents. I knew you would be. You never did like to be told what to do. In any case, though you might not believe it, it was for your own good. And I don't mean that in the way that most fathers do. I mean to say that this girl is more trouble than she's worth. Just because I turned myself in and stay locked up in this cell does not mean that I don't have my ways of getting information. To be with her is dangerous, as you will soon find out. For your own safety, stay away._

Once again, he knew exactly whom the note was from. His father. This time though, Draco did not react as angrily. He did not doubt for a second the truth in his father's words. He never had been one to lie to his son. If anything, he revealed the harsh truth too soon.

It was no longer a wishful thought to tell Hermione all. It was now a necessity.

Vowing to seek her out as soon as he dressed, he reached for a different bottle this time. He held it for a moment, remembering with fondness how he had found this on his bed Christmas morning. Once again, he fished out a small white tablet. This time, it was the last one in the bottle. Draco cursed silently. He now knew that he had a maximum of three days before he brushed fingers with death once more._ Well, _he thought, _it was nice while it lasted._

'o'

Lids half-opened, Hermione shuffled down the hall, book bag slung over one shoulder. Last night, the thought that she would have to talk to Ron the next morning had given her a pounding headache that had thrown her into a restless sleep.

She barely was able to get out of bed this morning, but she would be damned before she faked sick. She saw people who did such things as lazy, not committed enough to deserve a diploma at the end of the year. This thought in mind, she had managed to lift herself out of bed to get ready for her first class of the day.

It was a Wednesday, which meant she was off to Transfiguration. Hermione thanked the gods; if she had had Potions with this little sleep, Snape would have called her out on something for sure.

She finally reached the door, slipping in to find only a few students in the room. So she was early. She sat in her regular desk, catching Harry's eye and giving him a small smile. Hermione then leaned back in her chair, lightly closing her eyes, hoping maybe to feel a bit more refreshed before class started.

Fat chance. Her catnap was interrupted by Harry, who slipped into the desk next to her. "Sorry, if you were trying to sleep or something," he started apologetically.

"No, it's okay. I suppose it's my fault for not going to bed earlier." She flashed him the biggest smile she could muster.

He only smiled halfway back at her. "You seem kind of, well, out of it, Hermione. I'll admit I'm a little worried, and that's not something most guys will admit freely."

She placed her hand on his shoulder, saying, "Harry, I really appreciate your concern. And I won't lie to you – some parts of my life have been kind of crappy lately. But it's all stuff I need to work out on my own." He looked skeptically at her, doubting that there wasn't more than she was telling him. "I promise, Harry."

After a pause, he replied, "I'm only trusting your word because you are my friend, but you'll have to promise me that you'll come to me if you need anything. I hate to see the best student in our grade fall asleep during lessons." They both smiled.

"Don't worry; I won't." Harry made as if to leave, but as Hermione noticed Costas walk into the room, she asked Harry to sit back down. As he returned to his seat, his facial expression made as if to ask why, and Hermione replied by saying, "Just do this favor for me, just this once." He complied without another word, as Hermione noticed Costas's black eye and winced guiltily. Costas tried his hardest not to look at her as he made for a seat a few rows behind Hermione.

Professor McGonagall stood up from her desk, signifying the beginning of class. Hermione pulled out her textbook and took a deep breath, believing this was the start of a very long day.

From the back of the room, Ron copied Hermione's actions, trying his best to focus on McGonagall's lecture. He rubbed the bridge of his sore nose, feeling that he very much deserved the punch Malfoy had slugged him, but not very happy that he had let the bastard get the better of him. Although it was himself, really, who should be called the bastard.

He had slipped in when Hermione had appeared to be asleep in her first-row chair. He was thankful for this; Ron felt guilty all the time for what he did, and only guiltier when she caught his eye. He knew the feeling would only get worse if he put it off. He had to talk to her, to sort this out, to tell her that he was sorry. And he would. Today. At lunch. He would talk to her.

'o'

"I want you all to have to me two feet of parchment on the dangers of illegal Animagi by Friday," McGonagall instructed her Advanced Transfiguration class. It was too early and the students were too tired to even groan in response. "Class dismissed."

This gave Costas the chance he was waiting for. He took great strides, eyes dead-set on the honey-colored head bobbing towards the door and out of the classroom at a rather quick pace. She could move as quickly as she wanted to, but he could never outpace him.

He fell into step next to her. "Hermione." She didn't respond. "Hermione!" he said a bit louder, placing his hand on her shoulder and forcing her to stop. She finally turned to look at him, shrugging his hand off of her.

"Look, Costas. I'm sure you want to talk to me. And that's great of you." She sighed, brushing her hair aside with one hand. "But I still have some things to work out, and I have to get to my next class. I'll talk to you at the end of the day." Hermione walked off without another word as quickly as her legs would allow.

After a surprisingly relaxing Herbology, Hermione broke off from the crowd of people surging towards the Great Hall. She clambered up the Great Staircase skipping steps on her way up to her dormitory.

Knowing that she would possibly have to face Ron and that Costas would want to talk to her, Hermione decided to skip lunch and sleep instead. She had a free class after lunch because Professor Vector was feeling ill, and she planned to take full advantage of that so she would be refreshed for Defense Against the Dark Arts, her last class of that day.

'o'

Down in the Great Hall, Ron looked up and down the Gryffindor table, nervously shoving baguettes in his mouth. When fifteen minutes of lunch had slipped by with Hermione sitting nowhere along the Gryffindor table, Ron took a swig of pumpkin juice and headed for the door, shoving another baguette in his pocket for the road and glancing quickly over at the Slytherin table to verify that she hadn't decided to sit with Draco again.

Ron shoved off Harry's inquiry of where he was headed, bolting for the door and jogging quickly through the mostly-empty corridors towards the library. If Hermione wasn't there, he couldn't think of where she could be, except for her dormitory. And as if he'd be allowed in there. Ha.

He finally came upon the library, which he usually avoided at all costs, due to the fact that it smelled like old books and mold and it was, well, full of books. Ron searched every stack, every row of books, every study table and every reading area, but Hermione was nowhere to be found. He gave up his search, flopping down into one of the beanbag chairs in one of the reading areas. Ron could always continue his search after classes. Right now, he just needed to catch up on his sleep.

'o'

The rest of the day passed without much incident, and Hermione performed much better in Defense Against the Dark Arts – that two-hour nap had really helped. Now, at least she felt a little better about talking with Costas. He was very determined, and Hermione knew she would have to talk to him sooner or later.

She spotted him in the Entrance Hall, where she had told him to meet her, and went up to him, poking him on the back. His eyes lit up. "Hermione!"

Hermione solemnly closed her eyes, placing a hand in the air. "Not now, Costas. We'll talk up in my room." He nodded and followed her up the Staircase. They moved in silence, without talking.

The whole time, Hermione reflected on how strange it was that it seemed as though things couldn't get much worse. She was avoiding two people that she loved heart and soul as friends at the very least, and surely feeling more than that for someone who she previously loathed with all of her being.

Before she knew it, they were upon the portrait of Glanmore Peakes, and Hermione was suddenly aware once again of Costas over her shoulder. She muttered the password, walking into her common room.

Hermione had planned to talk to him there, but she saw Draco sitting in an armchair there and didn't want to disturb him. "Well, hello, Draco," she greeted cheerfully with a smile, glad that there was some one she could talk easily with.

The smile that he returned to hers did not reach his eyes. "Hermione, I-" Draco meant to talk with her, but stopped short upon seeing Costas's tall form enter the room. He refocused his attentions on Hermione, continuing, "I wanted to know if I could talk with you." He glanced up at Costas. "Alone."

Normally, Hermione would have just gotten the talk with Costas over and done with, but she could sense the urgency in Draco's eyes. "Erm, yeah, I'm sure that would be fine. Costas, you wouldn't mind, would you? I didn't think so," she said, without giving him time to answer. She flicked her wand in the air, conjuring a tea set and levitating towards Costas. "Just seat yourself and I'll be down in a minute."

Hermione motioned for Draco to follow her up the winding staircase to her own room. She pushed open the solid oak door, ushering him into the room and then shutting the door, putting a Silencing Charm on the room. "What is it, Draco? What do you want to talk about?"

"I, well, for starters…" he trailed off, trying to decide what to tell her first. He guessed the news that threatened her very life might be a good way to start out. "Well, your life is kind of…in grave danger."

"What do you mean?" she asked, worried and anxious as to what Draco was trying to tell her.

"Well, since there's no way to put this easily… My father, he has his sources, even in Azkaban, so I don't doubt him when he says there will be trouble. He has…warned me, warned me to stay away from you. I don't know exactly why, but he says that I shall find out soon enough. I just…" He paused to cough. "I just wanted to warn you."

"Oh, Draco…I can't thank you enough for thinking enough to warn me… but what am I supposed to do?" She looked in to his eyes, searching for an answer, but she found none.

"I…I don't know. I can only say…" He interrupted himself, coughing violently.

"Are you…okay, Draco?" He bent down on his hands and knees, steadying his hands on the ground as he continued to cough. "Draco?" His coughing only got worse. Hermione screamed as he began to cough up blood, running crimson down his chin and onto her carpet. He gave one last hacking cough, shuddered and slumped over to the side, face resting in a pool of his own blood.

* * *

_I know. I'm sorry. I suck. I should have updated sooner. I just hope you are all happy that I finished it! There's about two, maybe three more chapters left, and hopefully, it won't take me two or three more months to finish this baby._

_The fact is, I just started the ice hockey season, so things have been kind of crazy with practices and such. Plus I've been a little bit lazy and a little unmotivated lately, which further prolonged the posting of this chapter._

_Anyways, review-it will be greatly appreciated. :D_


	12. For the Last Time

_Okay, so it's short. But at least it's here. I will most likely rewrite it at some point, but we'll see.

* * *

_

**Chapter 12: For the Last Time

* * *

**

_I can barely look at you  
__But every single time I do  
__I know we'll make it anywhere  
__Away from here_

_Run, Snow Patrol

* * *

_

"Draco? Draco!" Hermione couldn't get over what had just happened. She bent down next to him, nudging him and repeating his name, praying to Merlin that he would wake up. She wouldn't even be mad if he said, "Surprise!" and revealed the blood as fake. She soon began to realize, though, that Draco couldn't be further from faking and that each minute she wasted in indescision could cost him his life.

She screamed out for Costas for help. He thundered up the stairs, alarmed by her shrill cry. "Costas!" she shrieked when she saw him, trying her best to keep calm. She took a deep breath, saying, "We have to…Draco, he's…the blood…get to the Hospital Wing!"

Somehow, Costas was able to understand her, and so, picked up Draco, slinging him over his shoulder. By the time Costas had done this, Hermione was already thundering down the stairs, beckoning for Costas to follow her.

They ran almost blindly through the halls, Hermione wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, willing herself not to cry. Now was not the time to cry. She told herself that she would wait to cry tears of relief as soon as Draco was attended to properly. It had been too long that he had suffered, alone, with hardly any medical help.With a new expression of determination set on her face, she led the way quickly and, just as any good Gryffindor should, bravely toward the Hospital Wing.

The odd group flew down the hall, right past a very familiar red head. He watched them go down the hall, only realizing it was Hermione from the huge bushy head of hair she sported.

Ron wanted to, no, needed to tell her how sorry he was, how much he wanted to be friends again, and how he wouldn't abuse it. So, he joined the trail to the Hospital Wing, hoping to catch up with Hermione and tell her everything.

-

Not too long after, two large doors burst open onto a surprisingly empty Hospital Wing. Hermione guided Costas over to and empty bed, ripping back the sheets and ordering Costas to place Draco there and then to go get Madam Pomfrey.

She took the washcloth on the bedtable next to him, wet it with the pitcher of water also on the table, and gently pressed it to Draco's forehead. "Oh, Draco," she whispered, "I'm no Healer, but, you…you just have to be okay. You have to make it through this. Because…I never could say it before because I was never completely sure, but…I…I love you. I love you with all of my heart, with all of my being, with every fiber in my body."

Hermione continued to wipe the blood off of him as she continued to whisper, "To other people, I may seem too young, too whimsical, too…whatever they want to say. But do you know what I say to them? 'Screw you.' Because, who cares? I love you. And that's all that matters." She closed her eyes, kissing his forehead, not noticing his eyes slowly open.

"I love you, too, Hermione," he whispered feebly into her ear. He surprised her with his consciousness, and they both smiled at each other, Hermione resisting the urge to squeeze and kiss him senseless, so as not to further worsen his weak condition. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the smooth white pillow as Hermione brushed a few of his blonde bangs out of the way.

Suddenly, there was a far off shout of "No! I won't!" that Hermione recognized to be Costas' voice. She turned in alarm as the door burst open to reveal a struggling Costas, who seemed to be fighting with himself.

She abandoned her post at the foot of Draco's bed to rush over to Costas's writhing form. Hermione tried to grip his shaking shoulders, to steady him and calm him down. "Calm down! Calm down, Costas and tell me what's the matter!" Instead of responding, he continued to jerk violently, as though trying to fight off some unknown force.

Hermione was scared; she didn't know what to do. And as soon as she saw a tall, slender shadow in the doorway, she knew that it was this horrible person who was doing this to him. Shakily, she demanded, "Step…into the light. Show yourself!"

An eerily familiar, lightly accented voice drifted from beyond the door, saying, "I suppose I shall, though I won't permit you to believe that you have any control over me." This vague, chilling statement was followed by even more chilling laughter.

Hermione saw Aspacia Skandalis step into the light that flooded through the wide windows all around the Wing. Hermione sharply intook a deep breath, gasping at the sight of the Greek Headmistress. "I…you?"

"Is that supposed to be a question?" she questioned in perfect English. Hermione was only able to stare wide-eyed at her as she further tried to settle Costas. "Oh, well, that's not all that important, anyway. What I really came here for was…"

"No!" Costas screamed out again, interrupting the older woman mid-sentence. He continued to jolt around, and Hermione feared the worst for him.

Hermione regained her voice, speaking to Skandalis as forcefully as possible. "I know at least part of what you're up to. Release your hold on him now! You know it's illegal to use Unforgivables! Can't you see he's in pain?! He's your student!"

"Unfor…? Oh. Those. Well, I hardly think that is the most of my worries tonight." Her eyes twinkled frighteningly as she swept her wand towards the far corner of the Wing. Costas's body went flying in said direction with such violence that he was knocked out. Hermione shrieked as Skandalis said, "We can leave him over there for now."

Hermione feared the worst, groping her robes for her wand and finally finding it in her pocket, her eyes focused on the older woman the whole time. "How…how did this happen? What are you even doing here?"

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" Skandalis responded with another eerie laugh. "Well, seeing as you shall die if you resist, I may as well tell you." She drifted towards the bed beside Draco's, sitting down and conjuring up a chair for Hermione. Hermione didn't sit down – she wasn't about to take her chances with this woman who clearly had something wrong with her. "Sit," Skandalis ordered and suddenly Hermione was overcome with the overwhelming urge to do so.

Now that they were both seated, Aspacia looking rather amused and Hermione looking as brave as she could, the elder woman began to talk. "Really, this won't take long…and then we can get to the fun part." Hermione did not like the twisted grin Skandalis displayed after those last two words. "Basically, my master wants you…and in my devotion to the Dark Lord-"

"Voldemort is gone." The last word ended in a gasp of pain as Hermione was thrown into a fit of torture that she imagined was about ten times worse than electric shock.

"You _will_ let me finish," the elder woman said to Hermione as soon as the pain stopped. Her ears were ringing and she felt the beginnings of a massive headache as she sat back down into her chair. _For once, _Hermione told herself, _hold your tongue. For Draco's sake._ With this new resolve, she faced Skandalis with a hardened glare.

"Very well, then. So, as I was saying, my Lord needs you as part of his master plan to rid the earth of Potter, especially, but generally any do-gooders or Mudbloods like yourself." Skandalis paused, readjusting her robes, but all the while staring back at Hermione. "'Why me?' is what you may be asking yourself. First of all, you are possibly one of the smartest witches of your year, and also, for your close relations to Potter." Once again she broke into more evil laughter.

"You really are insane," Hermione said, "if you think you can keep the Dark Lord's legend alive."

Skandalis had no time to respond to Hermione's comment because at that moment, the doors burst open, revealing a panting Ron. "Hermione!" he called out, giving a strange look to the Greek headmistress as he rushed to Hermione's side.

"No, Ron! Stay away!" Ron listened, stopping in his tracks.

"Hermione, what's the problem?"

"The problem," Skandalis interrupted, "is that this stubborn girl refuses to submit to the will of the follower or the Dark Lord." Ron gave Hermione a look as if to say, _Is she serious?_ "So, I have decided, since this is bound to get messy, I shall go back to my room and leave Costas to do what I brought him to Hogwarts for." And with a sweep of her cloak, she made for the door.

Hermione turned around, hoping to talk Costas out of whatever he was about to do. But when she looked into his eyes, she saw them clouded over as he walked towards them from the corner to which he was previously thrown, and knew that she had no hope of breaking the Imperius Curse that was set upon him. "Oh, Costas," she murmured, wishing there was some other way. He set his wand back, forcefully saying "Avada Kedavra!" Hermione saw the jet of green light and shut her eyes, waiting for the end.

Instead of being dead, Hermione heard two instantaneous cries of "Stupefy!" and heard three bodies thud to the ground. Opening her eyes, she took in everything around her now illuminated as Dumbledore rushed quickly over to where she was standing. He was staring at her feet it seemed, and when she copied his move, to her horrific surprise she found the head of red hair she had come to love so much sprawled across the face she knew as one of her best friends.

Hermione looked into Dumbledore's eyes, searching for some hope that Ron was still alive. She saw none, and overcome with sadness, threw herself onto Ron. "You-you saved me! I was so horrible to you…I didn't even give you a chance to apologize," Hermione lamented, finally letting tears stream down her face.

Draco looked at the sad scene in front of him. Dumbledore was moving the Stunned bodies of Skandalis and Costas into beds of the Hospital Wing, leaving Hermione to Ron's body and running to retrieve Madam Pomfrey. The only sound echoing throughout the high-ceilinged Wing was Hermione's empty sobs, coming in waves, stronger each time.

After Stunning 'that Greek brute,' as Draco so affectionately dubbed him, he hardly had any energy left to stay awake. He closed his eyes and lay back on the pillow. He found, though, that he could not just fall asleep with Hermione weeping.

Draco slipped out from between his covers, ignoring his pounding headache as he made his way over to Hermione. He leaned over, picked her gently up, and let her tears flow into his shoulder. Neither of them said anything, just standing there, embracing one another as the sun slowly began to rise.

* * *

_I'm sorry if you hated the ending, or if you thought it was weird. That's just how it is._

_It's been great fun, and if I feel like it, maybe I'll do an epilogue one day. __I wanted to thank all these awesome people for reviewing and supporting me all along. I really couldn't have done it with out you guys and girls:  
_**Son Christine, Silver** **Hanyou, iluvjd, haylez90, shanmo, Destiny13, mintytoothpick, Lady Paine, thebluemarshmallow, Steve Lover, chisox727, ali potter, hotaru420, HPFanatics311, Kiran, lucy, Ani, crimsonskie, fourthiv, slytherin-kittykat, ellen2321, SlytherinPixie, Pixie-Poison, bonessasan, Autum Wind, padfoot-lover1, ignorancereekstruth, That Other Girl, melodygirl, classicjs, **and **ShimmeringEvil.**

**YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME AND KEPT ME GOING THE WHOLE TIME!**

-The Nauti Dolphin-


End file.
